A large randomised controlled trial was conducted in the West Midlands, looking into the effectiveness of a school and family based healthy lifestyle programme, in comparison to usual practice. 1,467 year 1 pupils aged 5 to 6 years (control, 778 pupils), were randomised into the study, with follow-ups at 15 months and 30 months. The intervention consisted of encouraging healthy eating and...Read More
Last week saw the implementation of the “sugar tax.” It is one of the first big government initiatives here in the UK aimed specifically at dealing with the obesity epidemic with the hope of improving public health. Despite this initial effort from the government, many are calling for even more action to be taken with some pointing their fingers squarely at the advertising industry. It’s...Read More
Today, here in the UK, is a monumental day for public health. April 6th marks the debut of the much deliberated, and heavily debated, implementation of what is now commonly known as the “Sugar Tax.” This means that from today, the UK’s tax on sugary drinks will see shoppers being asked to pay 18p or 24p more a litre, depending on just how much sugar has been added to their drinks. The...Read More
As the global obesity epidemic continues to escalate, different solutions are put forward every day by governments, private organisations, charities, and members of the public. Of the many varying solutions that are suggested, one, in particular, seems to have gained a lot of traction in the last couple of years; cooking classes. It is said that due to the obesogenic environment we live in,...Read More
This commentary piece written in the Lancet Psychiatary, reviews Stanley J Ulijaszek’s new book, Models of Obesity. It argues that the field of mental health could learn a lot from the challenges of obesity and the approaches used to tackle it. It first argues that the obesity debate has been reframed in a way that presents it as a chronic relapsing-remitting condition. This has shifted...Read More
The obesity paradox refers to the paradoxical relationship between obesity and instances of better long-term survival in cancer, given the huge body of evidence for obesity’s carcinogenic effects. This article, published in Eating and weight disorders- studies on anorexia, bulimia and Obesity, seeks to explore the available studies concerning cancer incidence, survival and obesity in...Read More
This paper, published in Revista de Saúde Pública, aimed to determine the relationship between socioeconomic status (SS) in childhood and obesity in adult life. It conducted a cross-sectional analysis of a population of 1,222 adults in Florianópolis, Southern Brazil. Socioeconomic status was determined using the participant’s parents level of education as a proxy. Adult obesity was...Read More