CYP Now - HEALTH: Wanless takes soft option on obesity

The Government needs a more proactive approach to tackle obesity than suggested in the Wanless report, a child health expert has said.

Dr Tom Coffey, a GP in South London and a member of the Children's Taskforce, said the Wanless report did not "have enough teeth".

In his second report to the Government on the provision of public health services in the UK, former NatWest banker Derek Wanless said individuals needed to take more responsibility for their own health.

But Coffey told Children Now: "If you leave it to society to sort itself out - for the person to decide not to eat unhealthy food - that's not going to happen."

Coffey said schools should ban tuck shops to tackle obesity. School meals should only provide healthy options and there should be no desserts or puddings, only fruit.

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