The government has disbanded its expert advisory group on obesity, most of whose members were critical of health secretary Andrew Lansley's decision to fight the epidemic through close collaboration with the food and drinks industries.
Many members of the group have argued in meetings that "responsibility deals" with the likes of McDonald's and PepsiCo on labelling and fat and sugar reduction will not turn the obesity epidemic around, but their advice has been largely ignored. Some have been openly critical of government policy.
Professors Tim Lang and Geof Rayner wrote in the British Medical Journal in April of their concern over industry sponsorship of the social marketing campaign Change4Life. There was a risk the policy of "nudging" people into more healthy habits through incentives such as vouchers provided by food companies would become "a smokescreen for, at best, inaction and, at worst, publicly endorsed marketing", they said.
Their final worry, they said, "is that nudge becomes collusion between the state and corporations to hoodwink consumers. At least nannies are overt."
In disbanding the expert panel, a department of health spokesperson said public health was a priority and "we are bringing in a new approach. In light of our new approach we are also bringing in new advisory arrangements for obesity."
The chair of the group, Dr Susan Jebb, who also chairs the food responsibility deal panel, would continue to be a scientific adviser, the statement said. It added: "There will be a new National Ambition Review Group on obesity, which will bring together key partners and experts from the academic and scientific field.
"Public Health England will also play a crucial role in providing robust intelligence and evidence to local areas."
Klim McPherson of Oxford University, who is chair of the National Heart Forum, was one of the expert advisory group members. "Too many of us were giving critical voice to the responsibility deal and its effectiveness," he said. They had been suggesting a more aggressive government policy to stem the rise in obesity and discussing interventions such as fat taxes and proper labelling, "which government wasn't going to do".
"They ignored us," he said. "Then rather than ignoring us, they disbanded us. Government policy is not concerned with what central government can do – it is more concerned with what industry can do."
The group was put in place by the Labour government to advise following the major Foresight report on obesity, which amassed hundreds of pages of scientific evidence on the problem, its causes and possible solutions. It described obesity as a social and cultural problem and looked at many government interventions.
But under the coalition government, the Foresight approach has been largely sidelined, critics say, in favour of encouragement to individuals to eat more healthily, drink less and exercise more – alongside voluntary agreements with food companies to manufacture and market healthier products.
"There is a mismatch between the huge investigation presented by Foresight and the very individualistic approach presented by the government," said Rayner. "The problem is when you have a group of independent-minded policy, food, psychological and research experts and others, that mismatch says that some advice is likely to be unwelcome."
