Political 'Chickens' Come Home to Roost?

The UK has Europe's 3rd highest obesity rate (after Malta and Turkey). Since 1992, UK governments have produced 14 strategies, to deal with obesity. Since that time, they have also generated 689 policies to deal with the problem and have created, but later abolished, 14 different bodies to monitor 'progress'. A report by the Institute for Government Research (IfG) thinktank concludes that consistent policy failures to tackle obesity are a consequence of political fear (https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/19/nanny-statism-fears-behind-uks-30-year-failure-to-tackle-obesity-report-says). The (IfG) thinks that UK politicians (of all stripes) have been desperate not to be accused of 'nanny statism'. A 'nanny' is a woman paid to care for children by a rich family. The vast majority of UK folk, have no experience of a nanny. 'Nanny statism' is the 'crime' of government telling folk what they ought to do, rather than leaving things to 'personal choice'. Regulating food intake has long been viewed as being too personal for state regulation. 'Nanny statism' has been dragged out as an argument against obesity initiatives, by some food producers and sections of the right-wing press. Things, however, can change. Once upon a time, bans on cigarette smoking and the enforcing car seatbelt regulations were criticised as 'nanny statism'. One can only hope that obesity's time has come. The costs of not achieving any progress are now too great. Obesity's consequences now cost the UK's National Health Service circa £6.5bn per year.