US sugar barons 'block global war on obesity'

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,11381,1125768,00.html

 

US sugar barons 'block global war on obesity'

 

Jo Revill and Paul Harris in New York

Sunday January 18, 2004

The Observer

 

Leading scientists accused the Bush administration last night of putting the

interests of powerful American sugar barons ahead of the global fight against

obesity.

Professor Kaare Norum, leader of the World Health Organisation's fight to

prevent millions developing diet-related diseases, has sparked an international

war of words with a highly critical letter to US Health Secretary Tommy

Thompson. In it he tells of his grave concern over American opposition to the

WHO's blueprint to combat obesity. He accuses the US of making the health of

millions of young Americans 'a hostage to fortune' because it has failed to take

action over the fat epidemic as a result of its business interests, particularly

the sugar lobby.

Since 1990, successive US governments have blocked WHO calls for action, claims

Norum, professor of medicine at Oslo University.

'Obesity rates have risen so that now one in three Americans bears the burden of

the very high health risks associated with this condition, with the poorest and

most vulnerable worst affected,' he says. 'Obesity rates among American children

have risen by 50 per cent.'

Norum is the most senior scientist involved in an attempt to formulate a

worldwide policy to fight heart disease and diabetes resulting from a junk food

diet. An estimated 60 per cent of disease worldwide is now due to cardiovascular

illness, which causes 47 per cent of deaths.

The letter from Norum will put Bush under intense pressure at home to show that

he is serious about tackling the epidemic. More than half of all Americans are

overweight, and in some states, including Bush's Texas, nearly one-third of the

population is classified obese.

The President insists fighting fat is a matter for the individual, not the

state. But today The Observer reveals how he and fellow senators have received

hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from 'Big Sugar'. One of his main

fundraisers is sugar baron Jose 'Pepe' Fanjul, head of Florida Crystals, who has

raised at least $100,000 for November's presidential re-election campaign.

Norum's letter is an angry response to the Americans' decision to submit a

30-page report, criticising the WHO strategy for its lack of sound scientific

evidence. It will be discussed at a key meeting of its executive board in Geneva

on Tuesday.

The Bush administration, which receives millions in funding from the sugar

industry, argues there is little robust evidence to show that drinking sugary

drinks or eating too much sugar is a direct cause of obesity. It particularly

opposes a recommendation that just 10 per cent of people's energy intake should

come from added sugar. The US has a 25 per cent guideline.

Thompson's representative at Tuesday's meeting will be Bill Steiger, godson of

George Bush Sr. He will argue there is no evidence that selling junk food to

children increases overweight.

Another leading obesity expert supported Norum, describing America's position as

a scandal. Professor Philip James, head of the International Obesity Task Force,

a thinktank for experts worldwide said: 'People are far more tuned into what is

now a much bigger obesity crisis and are more aware of some of the dangers such

as diabetes. When they begin to see children developing these severe health

problems, it brings home to people that this is not some vague risk in the

future - it is happening here and now.'

Thompson is also due to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week,

where he is expected to have a private meeting with Douglas Daft, president of

The Coca-Cola Company, one of the major users of American cane sugar and

sweeteners.

In an Observer interview today, Britain's Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell urges

people who take little or no exercise to start hobbies like DIY and gardening to

get active, saying that she wants people to take responsibility for their

fitness.

In the UK, nearly 16 per cent of teenagers were found to be obese in 2000 -

three times the number reported in 1990.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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