Campaigners want ministers to overhaul rules to outlaw snacks that contain up to 12 teaspoons of sugar
Schools in England should be banned from giving pupils cakes or biscuits as part of their lunch because they contain so much sugar, food campaigners say.
They want ministers to overhaul the rules that guide schools on the nutritional content of the meals they serve to outlaw such sugary snacks.
Continue reading...Health and children’s groups urge UK ministers to impose levies on products containing too much salt or sugar
Dozens of health and children’s groups have urged ministers to tackle obesity by imposing taxes on foods containing too much salt or sugar.
New levies based on the sugar tax on soft drinks would make it easier for consumers to eat more healthily by forcing food manufacturers to reformulate their products, they claim.
74% think food firms are not honest about the health impact of their products.
61% worry about the amount of sugar and saturated fat in what they eat.
Only 13% believe producers will make their food more nutritious without government intervention.
72% worry about high levels of processing used in food production.
Continue reading...Review also finds by the time children are seven, 59% of calories come from UPFs
Toddlers in the UK obtain almost half of their calories from ultra-processed foods, rising to 59% by the age of seven, according to the largest study of its kind.
The first comprehensive review of dietary intake at such an early age comes amid rapidly rising global consumption of UPF such as cereals, protein bars, fizzy drinks, ready meals and fast food. The findings were published in the European Journal of Nutrition.
Continue reading...Separate study shows poor diet and added sugar also linked to rise in biological age
The stress of bereavement may accelerate the ageing process, according to researchers who found evidence that losing a loved one early in life had an impact long before people reach middle age.
Scientists spotted biological markers of faster ageing in people who had lost a parent, partner, sibling or child, but the signs were absent in others who had not experienced the death of someone close to them.
Continue reading...Concerns over ultra-processed foods and effect on health have led some countries to introduce new labelling
Adolescents in the UK get nearly two-thirds of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, with consumption highest among those from deprived backgrounds, researchers say.
The findings emerged from an analysis of food diaries kept from 2008 to 2019 by nearly 3,000 participants aged 11 to 18 as part of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
Continue reading...Food Foundation says height of five-year-olds falling, child obesity up by a third and type 2 diabetes by a fifth
Children across the UK are getting shorter, fatter and sicker amid an epidemic of poor diets, food insecurity and poverty, according to a report warning that millions are facing a “timebomb” of avoidable health conditions.
The average height of five-year-olds is falling, obesity levels have increased by almost a third and the number of young people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has risen by more than a fifth, the report by the Food Foundation said.
Continue reading...In Fisterra in north-west Spain, a diet rich in seafood, fruit and vegetables survives, and has been found to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart-related conditions
Seagulls shriek, boats bob and the morning sun silvers the waters off the Coast of Death as two sailors take a break from winding up their conger eel lines to ponder the sudden interest in precisely what, and how, people here have eaten for centuries.
Like many in the small Galician fishing town of Fisterra – whose name is derived from the Latin for land’s end, because the lonely peninsula on which it sits is about as far west as you can go in mainland Spain – Sito Mendoza and Ramón Álvarez are a little puzzled by all the fuss over the Atlantic diet.
Continue reading...Labour MPs call to extend provision to every primary pupil in England after study finds health and learning improve
Labour is facing calls from MPs to back the provision of free school meals for all primary school children in England, after a new study found evidence that it reduces obesity and boosts reading skills.
Levels of obesity were reduced by 7% to 11% among reception children in the four London boroughs that have already adopted the policy, according to the study seen by the Observer. For children in year six, who had been given free school meals for their entire time in primary school, there was a 5-8% reduction.
Continue reading...Marketing of processed foods and sugary drinks plays significant role in influencing children’s diets, expert says
Public health advocates are calling for action to curb obesity after fewer Australian children were found to be eating fruit and vegetables.
The number of children eating the recommended amount of fruit has dropped substantially, according to the results of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Health Survey, down by 9% (73% to 64%) in the five years to 2022.
Continue reading...Researchers find turning to fatty and other unhealthy foods for solace reduces vascular function and raises risk of heart disease
Using fatty foods to comfort eat during times of stress can impair the body’s recovery from the pressure, research suggests.
Many people turn to unhealthy foods such as chocolate or crisps when they are feeling the strain, but researchers have found that this can reduce blood flow to the brain and cause poorer vascular function – which in turn can have a negative effect on mental health and cognitive function, and increase the risk of heart disease.
Continue reading...Research presented to annual meeting of European Society of Cardiology prompts calls for action
Ultra-processed food significantly raises the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes, according to two studies that one expert says should serve as a wake-up call for governments worldwide.
Global consumption of heavily processed items such as cereals, protein bars, fizzy drinks, ready meals and fast food has soared in recent years. In the UK and US, well over half the average diet now consists of ultra-processed food (UPF). For some, especially people who are younger, poorer or from disadvantaged areas, a diet comprising as much as 80% UPF is typical.
Continue reading...Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, documents show
Newly released documents show an influential group that helps shape US food policy and steers consumers toward nutritional products has financial ties to the world’s largest processed food companies and has been controlled by former industry employees who have worked for companies like Monsanto.
The documents reveal the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has a record of quid pro quos with a range of food giants, owns stock in ultra processed food companies and has received millions in contributions from producers of pop, candy, and processed foods linked to diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other health problems.
Continue reading...Researchers find no such link for women, suggesting connection between diet and bowel cancer is clearer for men
Eating a plant-based diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes can reduce the risk of bowel cancer in men by more than a fifth, according to research.
A large study that involved 79,952 US-based men found that those who ate the largest amounts of healthy plant-based foods had a 22% lower risk of bowel cancer compared with those who ate the least.
Continue reading...Annual Good Food Nation survey finds a fifth of Britons no longer turn on their oven to save money
Families have crossed Sunday roasts, stews and home baking off the menu and in drastic cases no longer use their oven, as soaring energy costs force big changes in the kitchen.
One in four home cooks said they were less likely to prepare a roast dinner, while a fifth were not baking as many cakes or biscuits, according to the annual Good Food Nation report.
Continue reading...After years of disgust, I saw the possibility of beauty in my body just as it is. Now I am the happiest I have ever been
My body is an accordion. Not because it sounds horrible. I mean, it does. It clicks and cracks and honks, and when I try to sing nicely my son screams from the pit of his soul, like I’ve brandished an axe. No, what I mean is, it’s like an accordion because, for 32 years I was squeezing her in. In and in, for a half-life.
On a BMI chart, I’ve always been “obese” – technically, ill. So for decades I saw my body as defective, disappointing and disgusting. If I looked at it, I felt the kind of hatred and repulsion I normally reserve for racists or people who say “hashtag justsayin’” out loud.
Continue reading...My friend Peter Greaves, who has died aged 89, was a health and nutrition officer for Unicef whose work made a huge difference to children’s lives around the world. He was an early advocate of low-cost interventions including immunisation, oral rehydration and breastfeeding.
While he was Unicef’s chief nutrition adviser in the mid-1980s, he managed to get Unicef and the World Health Organization to agree on the final draft of The Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. This document helped transform global maternal care policies.
Continue reading...The fast food chain has said components for the sandwich will be sold separately and customers will have to assemble it themselves
Burger giant McDonalds is causing something of a flap with a bizarre new set of forthcoming ‘menu hacks’ that includes a sandwich called “Land, Air & Sea,” combining fish, beef and a bird with dismal flying abilities – the chicken.
Menu hacks have in recent years become a popular way for the public to customize creations from existing items on fast food chain menus.
Continue reading...Migraines disappeared after man started diet that included lots of dark-green leafy vegetables, study shows
Health experts are calling for more research into diet and migraines after doctors revealed a patient who had suffered severe and debilitating headaches for more than a decade completely eliminated them after adopting a plant-based diet.
He had tried prescribed medication, yoga and meditation, and cut out potential trigger foods in an effort to reduce the severity and frequency of his severe headaches – but nothing worked. The migraines made it almost impossible to perform his job, he said.
Continue reading...Losing weight may be tough, but keeping it off, research tells us, is tougher – just not for the reasons you might think
As the director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University, Massachusetts, Susan Roberts has spent much of the past two decades studying ways to fight the obesity epidemic that continues to plague much of the western world.
But time and again, Roberts and other obesity experts around the globe have found themselves faced with a recurring problem. While getting overweight individuals to commit to shedding pounds is often relatively straightforward in the short term, preventing them from regaining the lost weight is much more challenging.
Continue reading...As sea levels rise, growers are employing innovative methods to adapt to saline soils
Like millions of people across Bangladesh, Anita Bala, 45, relies on a small plot of land to feed her family.
But for years nothing would grow. Her husband farmed shrimp in the salty ponds on their land, but the surrounding ground was barren. Bala’s efforts to cultivate beans and pulses failed repeatedly. Eventually she gave up.
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