• Three former prime ministers, one deputy prime minister, ten former health secretaries, and six other former and current prominent politicians have conceded that governments have not gone far enough on obesity
• Politicians including Sir Tony Blair, Boris Johnson and Lord David Cameron have all made clear that successive UK governments have not taken a sufficiently strong approach to the issue - as they joined in calling for further action on obesity and prevention
• New government urged by former office holders to be bold, act fast and have no regrets about doing more to tackle obesity and prevention

London, 25 November - A new report authored by the UK government’s former food tsar Henry Dimbleby and public health expert Dr Dolly van Tulleken draws on interviews with an unprecedented number of senior politicians who have served at the highest levels - and found widespread support for more government intervention on obesity.

The 20 politicians interviewed served in relevant government roles over a period spanning more than three decades, between 1990 and 2024, yet there is broad agreement that the combined efforts of successive governments up to the present day have not been enough.

Asked directly whether efforts by government to tackle obesity to date have been sufficient:

• Boris Johnson (former Conservative prime minister) said: “Well, obviously not, because the problem has increased.”
• Lord David Cameron (former Conservative prime minister) said: “There is a lot more that government can and should do”.
• Sir Tony Blair (former Labour prime minister) said: “I believe that while significant strides have been made, these efforts have not been entirely sufficient to tackle the issue comprehensively.”
• George Osborne (former Conservative chancellor) said: “I would do much more in this space.”
• Jeremy Hunt (former Conservative health secretary) said: “No … I wish in particular we had made more progress with kids’ obesity where most people are less sensitive to the nanny state arguments.”
• Lord Andrew Lansley (former Conservative health secretary) said: “No, no, no.”
• Sir Sajid Javid (former Conservative health secretary) said “No. I think there’s been lots of nice noises and even targets and stuff, but the tools haven’t been put in place to deliver those targets and I think politicians sort of know that.”
• Lord William Hague (former leader of the Conservative party) said “evidently not. The problem has been getting dramatically worse.”
• Alan Milburn (former Labour health secretary who is a senior advisor in the current Government) responded “no”.
• Michael Gove (former Conservative secretary of state for education and for environment, food and rural affairs) said obesity is “the biggest unresolved public health issue.”
• Lord William Waldegrave (former Conservative health secretary in the Thatcher government) said “We haven’t succeeded so they can’t have been.”

All three former prime ministers interviewed for the report called for the current Government to go further on obesity.

• Tony Blair calls for “bold, innovative steps, including shifting the focus of the NHS from cure to prevention, and stay committed to building a healthier, more resilient Britain.”
• David Cameron says “If you had to rank issues Britain faces, chronic disease is right up there – and obesity is a significant driver of so many of our biggest killers… There is a lot more that government can and should do.”
• Boris Johnson said “the government has to do something to try and deal with it. We can’t be indifferent to these levels of suffering.”

The report is supported and published by the charities Nesta and Impact on Urban Health. Entitled Nourishing Britain: A Political Manual for Improving the Nation’s Health, it includes practical advice for politicians and those campaigning to make change, based on the advice and insights of former prime ministers, health secretaries and senior ministers. Over the last three decades, obesity levels have doubled. Politicians on all sides have made efforts to avert it, but the report says “attempts to tackle obesity have mostly been abandoned, derailed, watered down, delayed into extinction, lost in the system or forgotten altogether”.

Henry Dimbleby said: “Finally politicians of all colours agree we haven’t done enough to tackle obesity. It is fascinating to get a rare glimpse from the inside of the forces stacked against change. We now need their successors to learn from their experiences so they can avoid their mistakes and build on what works.”

Dr Dolly van Tulleken said: “I’m regularly asked why politicians can’t just fix the food system and reduce obesity rates. We spoke to many who tried. What is striking is that none of them, left or right, regret their efforts, but some wish they had done much more. Many faced fierce lobbying, or lost fights, or had to spend their political capital on other things. All of them think it’s a major policy challenge and urge the new government to act early and be bold.”

Ravi Gurumurthy, CEO of Nesta said: “What this research reveals is an unusual cross-party consensus. Prime ministers and health secretaries from all parties wish they'd done more on obesity. They told us radical progress is possible and necessary. There is a window now to get this right. The public supports action to prevent disease and obesity. The left and right might disagree over the size of the state, but neither wants the state spending tens of billions a year on avoidable obesity-related conditions.”

Nikita Sinclair, from Impact on Urban Health said: “This report shows how government can and must go further to take bold action to tackle food related ill health. Currently the way our food is produced, marketed and sold is having a detrimental effect on our nation’s health, especially for those living on lower incomes. Yet there are many solutions within reach, and as this report shows now is the time for transformative leadership on this issue to make these solutions a reality.”

The report follows the publication last month by Nesta of its blueprint for halving obesity, a first-of-its-kind tool to help governments and policy makers choose the most effective interventions to reduce obesity. It recommends a combination of evidence-based health policies as part of a plan to cut obesity in half. Among other measures it recommends imposing healthy food targets for retailers and advertising restrictions on unhealthy food.

Notes to Editors

• Nourishing Britain is written by Dr Dolly van Tulleken and Henry Dimbleby with support from Nesta and Impact on Urban Health.
• Interviews were carried out between March 2024 and October 2024. The transcripts and associated material are available free-to-access at https://www.nesta.org.uk/report/nourishing-britain/
• The authors are available for broadcast interviews, please direct bids to the Nesta press office at 020 7438 2576 or [email protected]