YOU report that more children in Oxfordshire are overweight or obese this year than last year, and that Dr Jonathan McWilliam, the county’s director of public health, has warned that childhood obesity could cause chronic disease later in life, but you do not record what he is doing about it.

His comment that the figures for the county are lower – ‘better’ is the word actually used – than the national average suggests complacency. Is Dr McWilliam complacent? I doubt it. But this problem has been around for years; everybody knows about it; it’s getting worse, and yet nothing effective has been done to reverse the trend. So, let’s stop pussyfooting around and do something. 

In these days of pizzas and fast food and sugary drinks, why are some people getting fat but others not? We need some facts! Let’s start looking at the children who are not fat. Do they eat less? Do they eat different foods? Do they burn off their excesses with exercise? Do they make a conscious effort to keep their weight in balance with their growth, or does it come naturally to them? What is it about their lifestyle that has them moving along the road to good health? Then we need to see how those who are fat and getting fatter eat and live differently, and how they can be educated into ways that will ensure future good health. And then perhaps the children will educate the adults too.

Can all this be done by education and encouragement, or should it be done with sanctions such as the banning or taxing of some foods, or even restrictions on access to health services for those who refuse to be responsible for their lifestyle? Drastic measures maybe, but drastic measures are required, and they must be better than burying our heads in the sand.

DAVID BROWN
Little Blenheim, Yarnton