BUSY lives coupled with a lack of basic food education could be fuelling Britain's obesity crisis.

Bradford mum Amanda Firth believes families are often too busy working to cook meals from scratch when they return home so resort to convenience foods and takeaways instead.

But Amanda suggests parents should be passing on basic life skills to the next generation to halt the country's obesity problems which, according to a study, commissioned by consultancy firm McKinsey and Company, has revealed obesity has the second-largest economic impact on the UK behind smoking, generating an annual loss equivalent to three per cent of GDP.

The report found obesity costs the country nearly £47 billion a year. More than 2.1 billion people around the world - or nearly 30% of the global population - are now overweight or obese, with the figure set to rise to almost half of the world's adult population by 2030, according to the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), which carried out the report.

Amanda struggled with her weight from her teenage years. She'd tried dieting and weight loss surgery was to be her last resort.

But as the surgery date drew nearer, Amanda contemplated the operation and the potential impact on her family and decided to boycott having a gastric bypass and lose the weight herself.

Through Slimming World, an organisation she now works for as a consultant after being inspired through her own weight loss journey, Amanda was able to lose the pounds and takes great satisfaction after achieving her slender frame through determination rather than the surgeon's scalpel.

"I've saved the NHS £6,500 as it was then," Amanda told the T&A at the time, referring to the cost of the operation she was scheduled to undergo in November 2011.

Learning how to cook healthy meals from scratch was the secret to Amanda's success - and cutting down on takeaway meals which were a convenient way of feeding the family at the time.

"I think a lot of it, and I know myself, is when I got home at six or seven at night could I be bothered cooking? Now, yes, but then I had to get the children bathed and get them in bed and it was a case of getting a quick tea," recalls Amanda.

Now she is educating and inspiring others through their weight loss journeys - but she is concerned many people don't know where to get help. There are many organisations offering advice and support - people just need to seek help.

In a bid to tackle the problem, the report has called for a "coordinated response" from governments, retailers, restaurants and food and drink manufacturers to address the "global obesity crisis."

The UK spends less than £638 million a year on obesity prevention programmes - about 1% of the country's social cost of obesity, the study found.

Professor Paul Gately, who runs the MoreLife weight management services which holds summer camps at Apperley Bridge in Bradford, believes investment is crucial in tackling the problem and wants to see local authorities channelling more funds into this area.

"The evidence is quite clear, all the weight management interventions are cost effective but, for whatever reason, local authorities are choosing not to spend any money in this area," says Professor Gately.

Among the recommended interventions to reduce the cost of obesity are portion control in fast food packaged goods; investing in parental education; introducing healthy meals in schools and workplaces and encouraging more physical activities by introducing bicycle lanes.

MGI director Richard Dobbs says: "Efforts to address obesity have been piecemeal up till now. Yet obesity is a systemic issue, born of many interlocking factors, and only a systemic response will do."

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England (PHE), said: "Overweight and obesity is a complex problem which requires action across individual and societal levels involving industry, national and local government and the voluntary sector. There is no single 'silver bullet' solution.

"Today 25% of the nation is obese and 37% is overweight. If we reduce obesity to 1993 levels, where 15% of the population were obese, we will avoid five million disease cases and save the NHS alone an additional £1.2 billion by 2034.

"PHE will continue to support local authorities to provide effective weight management services, to influence the regulation of fast food outlets and provide healthier catering in hospitals and schools, which will all help people to lose weight."

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