Type 2 diabetes now costs the NHS £15 billion a year or £1 million an hour (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
In my opinion the advertising of junk food wherever it occurs is an attack on the health of the nation.
By my calculations based upon a recent government report each British taxpayer pays an extra £7,165 to mitigate the harms caused by our poor food environment.
I really believe that the Government’s planned TV ad ban will help. Which businessmen pay the staggering cost of TV advertising without knowing it pays dividends in terms of consumption? The consumption of junk foods is clearly linked to so many chronic illnesses and even death.
The NHS will never be able to cope unless we do something about demand by looking seriously at prevention.
I believe we have eaten our way into this pandemic of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and chronic ill health. It is urgent we do something to help people understand ‘we are what we eat’.
In my practice near Liverpool we have seen an astonishing ten-fold increase in Type 2 diabetes since I started as a GP in 1986. This cannot be genetic but environmental.
I am convinced it has been caused by the dramatic increase in poor quality takeaway meals and run-away consumption of junk foods.
My evidence for this is when we help our patients change their diet a staggering 97% improve their blood sugar control without drugs.
Dr Unwin has issued a stark warning about junk food and cancer (Image: Mercury Press)
Another ray of hope is provided by the trend for people to buy continuous glucose devices. Initially these were used to help people with Type 1 diabetes but increasingly people without diabetes are interested to find out how various foods affect their blood sugar.
We have also seen a worrying increase in the prevalence of breast and colorectal cancer. In fact it is generally agreed that obesity and diet is the second largest preventable cause of cancer after smoking. I think we really need to think hard about not just better treatments for cancer and diabetes but actual prevention. I have come to believe that poor diet is causing people to develop cancer.
So many children I see eat so much junk food they then have no appetite when their parents make the effort to cook proper food for them. This is how your child can end up as a ‘picky eater’.
The commonest problem I see is children not eating enough protein, something nearly always lacking in ultra-processed food.
Often, I suggest eggs for breakfast instead of sugary cereals, reminding parents that sugar is ‘empty calories’ whereas protein is a building block for a strong body.
I also find in my practice that once children are habituated to eating a lot of ultra-processed food it’s really hard to get them off again.
There is gathering evidence that such foods may well be addictive. For a number of people sugar as a child proves to be a ‘gateway drug’ leading on to other problems.