Readers' letters - July 22

Tackle youth obesity now
MPs overwhelmingly voted to renew Britains Trident nuclear weapon system. See letterMPs overwhelmingly voted to renew Britains Trident nuclear weapon system. See letter
MPs overwhelmingly voted to renew Britains Trident nuclear weapon system. See letter

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Overweight children become overweight adults and, as a result, are far more likely to develop conditions such as diabetes and heart disease at a younger age than we’ve seen in previous generations.

These conditions have a devastating impact on individuals and place a huge financial burden on our already over-stretched NHS.

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With local councils in England warning this week that Government cuts to public health funding could hamper their efforts to tackle obesity, ministers must put our children first.

The Government’s desperately needed childhood obesity strategy has been repeatedly delayed.

Worryingly, a leaked draft of the document suggests that ministers’ pledges to help protect our children have been watered down after lobbying from the food industry.

It is vital that the Government produces a comprehensive and bold childhood obesity strategy with ambitious targets, backed up by legislation, for the reduction of sugar, saturated fat and salt from our food, and introduces restrictions on junk food marketing to prevent manufacturers targeting children.

Professor Parveen Kumar

Board of science chairman

British Medical Association

politics

Time to invest in our people

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The referendum was divisive but now we need to be united and work together.

There are several problems the referendum showed.

Areas with high unemployment voted Leave, as did those that are economically depressed and have high immigrant populations.

We need to provide better education and skills training. We need to stop politicising education, make sure children are literate and numerate when they leave school.

We are desperately short of scientists, mathematicians and skilled factory workers.

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It is time to invest in people and new industries and to stop paying the ‘fat cats’ exorbitant bonuses.

We need to help ‘Neets’, those 18 to 24-year-olds who are in neither education nor employment, and persuade “the can’t work, won’t work brigade” that they should.

Sandra Ogden

Address supplied

defence

May made the wrong move

Can I speak up in support of a letter from Jane in Wednesday’s Wigan Evening Post about Trident (WEP July 20)? She explains how nuclear weapons would not deter the wannabe serial killers deranged by their lust for power.

I agree that those hellbent on imposing their own ideological beliefs, fuelled by a burning hatred of the West – like Isis and perhaps North Korea – would have no second thoughts in launching nuclear missiles if they got hold of them.

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They would do so regardless of the ‘deterrent’ we offer with our own £31bn worth of missile capabilities.

By keeping and expanding upon our own nuclear programme, we are moving away from the eventual disarmament of these missiles across the world.

So thank you to our new Prime Minister, Theresa May.

Her first bold move in the hot seat has been to waste an obscene amount of money and put the world in greater danger than it already was.

Julie Jeffries

via email