Prime Minister Tony Blair said in a speech that the so-called obesity epidemic is not an epidemic in the true sense of the word. In fact, he said, many of British society's health problems are not "strictly speaking, public health problems at all." Instead, Blair said, Britons need to get a dose of individual responsibility to get their health under control, starting with healthy nutrition and exercise. Mr. Blair also made it clear that he and his Labour government consider chronic health problems arising from unhealthy lifestyles to be self-inflicted. However, he acknowledged that the solution is through a community approach. "If millions of children are not eating the right food and not getting enough exercise," said Blair, "then it's not just a million individual problems, it's a collective problem that will require us all to work together, including government."

The biggest concern when it comes to "self-inflicted" diseases? Diabetes. "Ten percent of NHS [National Health Service] resources today are used to treat diabetes," said Blair. "By 2010 that estimate is that this could double. That's twenty percent of the entire resources of the NHS - and it's avoidable." Don't know about you, but I admire his frankness on this topic.