As the country is about to get a new Prime Minister, the government has shelved the long-awaited childhood obesity strategy spearheaded by David Cameron, with plans for publication put back until the autumn at least, it has emerged.
The strategy had been widely expected to be published next week, but sources said today Theresa May’s new team had decided to delay the plans in the wake of the Brexit vote and the change in government.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said she was not aware of any delays and the strategy was still going to come out this summer, but groups including the National Obesity Forum and Action on Sugar said they had been given to understand it would now not see the light of day until the autumn.
Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said the news was a “disaster”.
“This was supposed to be a legacy piece for David Cameron. But it will end up being as much a legacy as the Brexit exit,” he said.
“Cameron is in danger of being seen as the man who ruined the NHS and did nothing to tackle the national crisis of childhood obesity. I’m absolutely furious.”
Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of Action on Sugar , said the government public health policy was now “in a state of utter chaos”.
He said: “This latest news is yet another blow after we heard from reliable sources that the original proposals were going to be watered down anyway. I’m really pissed off that after two years campaigning and with our proposals having sat with Jeremy Hunt for all that time it looks like all this is going to come to nothing.”
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