Denis Campbell's article on the crippling costs of treating diabetes is a stark warning that we cannot afford to continue losing the battle against obesity (Diabetes threatens to 'bankrupt' NHS within a generation, 25 April). We need to assess why campaigns and preventive measures to date have not worked and look to other areas that might be a factor.
One such area is a lack of local sports facilities. Compared to our neighbours on the continent we have far fewer public sports sites, and those we do have tend to be of appalling quality. Compared to a muddy field with a leaking shipping container as a changing room, more sedentary modern pastimes, like social media and high-powered gaming, are an understandably attractive alternative to more active hobbies. Countries such as Holland, Germany and France, meanwhile, enjoy a good inventory of high-quality all-weather pitches and public sports sites.
Since 2000 the Football Foundation has invested �420m ? provided by the Premier League, the FA and government ? into upgrading public sports facilities. Our research records an average increase in sports participation of 10% at facilities that we have enhanced, which shows there is an appetite to exercise through playing sport. But until we address our lack of sports sites, our population will continue to be deprived of an important means to become active and stay fit - and sport will continue to be a major omission from our armoury in the battle against our increasingly obese nation.
Rory Carroll
The Football Foundation
??Is there a link between the decline of smoking and the rise of obesity and diabetes? It's been suggested that with a previous "health" scare of fat being bad for you, they took it out of a lot of food and thus the flavour, and then, to give it some flavour, added sugar. This was 30 years ago. It turned out some fat was not only essential, it was good for the heart after all, but they have now given a lot of people a sweet tooth. This is why it is so appalling that there is no debate at all about smoking. Some people might be much better off smoking instead of nibbling. There are still 10 million smokers, now treated like very naughty children. It seems there is no free lunch, and the media and political elite look like the cause of it all, exaggerating constantly to people they seem to despise.
David Hockney
Bridlington, East Yorkshire
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/01/root-causes-rise-obesity-diabetes
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