News and Opinion

There are stories relating to obesity breaking around the world every day.  The stories below are those where journalists haver sought NOF opnion/quotes or summaries of research on which NOF may have a view.  Where possible the source of the stories are identified by the newspaper banner or a URL in red.

NOF Opinion will always be identified in italics.

A New Year: a New Obesity Plan

Independent


Like daffoldils in Spring, you can tell it's January when a state-sponsored celebrity chef arrives to publicise the government's current attempt to rein in the nation's expanding waistlines.  Ainsley Harriott has joined Jamie Oliver and Lloyd Grossman by producing a cookbook of healthy " supermeals ", none costing more that £5 to make, to prove that it is possible to eat both well and cheaply. 3 supermarket chains - Asda, Aldi and the Co-op - have agreed to sell the ingredients at a discount and 4 million recipe cards are to be posted to families.

Not unduly surprisingly a number of people, including the National Obesity Forum and British Dietetic Association, are not impressed at Round 3 of the CHANGE4LIFE initiative.  THE INDEPENDENT invited Professor Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, to post a comment on its double spread critique of the DH's latest foray into obesity prevention, cosiness with the food industry and public health " successes ".  Entitled " Will this new wheeze work? Fat Chance. " Lang described the DH's 2012 resolution as a soft option which, whilst looking good on the surface, is hopeless when confronted with the enormity of the change required.