Volume 192 - Issue 6
An open letter to politicians on climate change and obesity
Authors: Garry J Egger, Boyd Swinburn, Fiona Stanley and Kerryn Phelps
Med J Aust 2010; 192 (6): 359-360. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2010.tb03550.x
Published online: 15 March 2010
Published online: 15 March 2010
To the Editor: As health professionals, we urge Australian politicians (and the public) to recognise the overlap in the underlying cause of two great health threats that our population now faces: the rise of obesity and its life-threatening disease consequences, and the great threats to health from global climate change.1-3
Big health gains have been made since the onset of industrialisation. However, we are now seeing the emergence of health risks caused by excesses in market-driven consumerism (including the consumption of energy-dense processed foods), energy-subsidised exertion-free living, an over-arching preoccupation with gross domestic product and (particularly relevant to climate change) population growth.4,5
In light of our profession’s long experience with the smoking–disease debate, we recognise the serious threat posed to population health by the well financed, doubt-fostering opposition of vested interests. In the case of smoking, it took 50 years and several million deaths to progress from acknowledgement of the health hazard to application of effective interventions. With climate change, we lack the luxury of time — and the stakes are much higher.6 Hence, a prudent, precautionary strategy to tackle the big issues is essential. We propose two initiatives:
Convene a high-level, ongoing forum to discuss post-growth alternatives to unsustainable, consumption-based growth as the economic norm. This should involve health and social scientists, among others, and economists prepared to objectively take into account the real environmental costs of our actions; and
Convene a multidisciplinary taskforce to develop an Australian population policy. Population is a key driver of energy use, greenhouse pollution and resultant ill-health.7 Despite the apparently widespread bias against public discussion of population issues, the topic is now attracting renewed attention and the debate should be facilitated.
The irony of adopting a “no change” approach to these two issues is that, if this happens, involuntary change to everyone’s lifestyle will become unavoidable. We must seek a sustainable economic system and stable population size that ensures prosperity without endangering both health and environmental quality.8
For the moment, our actions are seriously damaging our planet and our children’s health. One in three children born today will become obese and/or diabetic in their lifetime, and the population at large will face increasing health risks from climate change.
Acknowledgements
Plus over 300 medical and health practitioners, including 40 professors of medicine or health sciences (names available from authors on request).
References
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