Wednesday 19 June 2019

Telling people to eat fewer burgers won't solve shocking health inequality

Telling people to eat fewer burgers won't solve shocking health inequality | Richard Vize Lifestyle advice helps, but the government must tackle the root causes of poor health to improve life expectancy

Media coverage of the relentless advice to eat less, eat better, and do more gives the impression that the growing problem of health inequalities could largely be solved simply by badgering enough people into laying off fried chicken.

The excitement around the Henry programme (Health, Exercise, Nutrition for the Really Young) in Leeds, which claimed to have reduced childhood obesity by helping parents give children choices while maintaining boundaries, shows how seductive this narrative can be (and it should be noted that there is a lively debate in the British Medical Journal about exactly what the programme achieved). The Guardian

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