Tag Archives: public health

Oliver Sidorczuk

Opinion: Government must act to encourage healthier diets

By Oliver Sidorczuk | Thu 7th February 2013 - 4:53 pm

Yesterday, Chris Rennard and John Sharkey raised the important and inter-connected issues of sugar consumption and childhood obesity, respectively, during Oral Questions in the Lords.

These related topics prompted fifteen minutes of debate from a packed Chamber, as the responding Minister – Earl Howe – spelt out what the Government is doing to encourage healthier eating and prevent the problems associated with poor diet and lack of exercise, from worsening.

John Sharkey began proceedings by pointing out that not one of the companies signed up to the responsibility deal for calorie reduction is a fast-food operator. He …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 21 Comments
Kay Barnard

Trans-fats, your health and politics

By Kay Barnard | Fri 26th October 2012 - 8:50 am

Do you eat cakes, chocolate bars, ready meals or chips from a take-away? Who doesn’t eat some occasionally? All those foods I mentioned and many others may contain high levels of compounds called trans-fats or trans-fatty acids.

The reason that trans-fats are important is because they cause much higher levels of heart disease – and yet we rarely hear about them. Trans-fats are an unnatural product of food processing. Vegetable oils are sometimes chemically treated by “hydrogenation” to give them a thicker consistency or they are purified at a high temperature. Food manufacturers do this to increase storage life …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 21 Comments
David Rogers

Opinion: Health & Social Care Bill – a local government perspective

By David Rogers | Mon 24th January 2011 - 2:11 pm

Media coverage and comment so far since the Bill was published last week has been largely about GP commissioning, and the abolition of Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities. Naturally there will be risks associated with such an enormous transfer of financial responsibility, but we should most certainly not overlook the underlying localist and patient-centred philosophy, and the opportunities for GPs to become more engaged with a wider health and wellbeing approach in every locality.

GP practices operate in local communities, and councillors are elected to represent those same communities. How should we work with them more …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 19 Comments



Recent Comments

  • User Avatarnuclear cockroach 19th May - 3:31pm
    @Martin Lowe All true, despite any Trappist vows undertaken by those travelling on the Underground.
  • User Avatarnuclear cockroach 19th May - 3:28pm
    "you cannot wish away euroskeptic voters" Your spelling gives away more than you imagine. "or pretend they are few enough that you don’t need to...
  • User AvatarMadasafish 19th May - 3:18pm
    Having read most of the comments: Running away from an issue just makes it worse. Facing up to an issue and taking the lead usually...
  • User AvatarManfarang 19th May - 3:17pm
    Does the Sun report true stories? I have never noticed.
  • User AvatarDominic 19th May - 3:07pm
    agree with the article but very wary of any stats coming from ActionAid. As their recent (scurrilous and wholly fallacious) campaigns on tax demonstrate, these...