>> new research says government was wrong on childhood obesity
>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
And now for the backlash? After spending much of last year reporting how the health debate was being spun out of control by the government, it was fascinating to see it get a taste of its own medicine this week.
Even I was surprised at how new research by the Social Issues Research Centre - a thinktank I had never previously heard of - was picked up with such alacrity by the national media. In short, SIRC accuses the government of over-stating the prevalence of obesity among children - it’s 7% not 15%, apparently. As a result, the government had an uncomfortable day or two defending itself against accusations of scaremongering over the health of the nation; it was guilty of ‘supersizing’ its facts and figures.
The important point, I guess, is that it doesn’t really matter whose figures are right or wrong because they both show obesity in children is increasing. And all of us in this industry know there are serious issues that need to be addressed if the health of the nation - never mind the health of our kids - is to be improved.
But whatever actions we take must be proportionate to the problem, and they need to be focused on the real issues if they are to be effective. As we argued throughout last year, scaremongering, spin and anti-food industry rhetoric are not the best foundations on which the government, or its advisors, should base policies.
After all, if your foundations are a bit dodgy, then whatever you try to build on top is probably doomed. If nothing else, this week’s reaction to the SIRC research again shows just how shaky some of the foundations set out in the Public Health White Paper actually are.
What the government seems to fail to understand is that, as a nation, we truly abhor the idea of the Nanny State. Even when the advice is right, we resent being told what to do - which is, after all, why so many people still smoke. So it is hardly surprising that everybody from media commentators to mums on the Clapham omnibus are eager to pick holes in diktats from Whitehall about our diets and sedentary lifestyles. If they think ministers have been over-stating the scale of the problem, then whatever advice and policy comes next will be ignored. It’s as simple as that. And it would be worth the government bearing that in mind as it puts the finishing touches to its Food and Health Action Plan.
Supersizing the figures
>>THE ISSUES THAT MATTER, FROM THE PEOPLE INVOLVED
And now for the backlash? After spending much of last year reporting how the health debate was being spun out of control by the government, it was fascinating to see it get a taste of its own medicine this week.
Even I was surprised at how new research by the Social Issues Research Centre - a thinktank I had never previously heard of - was picked up with such alacrity by the national media. In short, SIRC accuses the government of over-stating the prevalence of obesity among children - it’s 7% not 15%, apparently. As a result, the government had an uncomfortable day or two defending itself against accusations of scaremongering over the health of the nation; it was guilty of ‘supersizing’ its facts and figures.
The important point, I guess, is that it doesn’t really matter whose figures are right or wrong because they both show obesity in children is increasing. And all of us in this industry know there are serious issues that need to be addressed if the health of the nation - never mind the health of our kids - is to be improved.
But whatever actions we take must be proportionate to the problem, and they need to be focused on the real issues if they are to be effective. As we argued throughout last year, scaremongering, spin and anti-food industry rhetoric are not the best foundations on which the government, or its advisors, should base policies.
After all, if your foundations are a bit dodgy, then whatever you try to build on top is probably doomed. If nothing else, this week’s reaction to the SIRC research again shows just how shaky some of the foundations set out in the Public Health White Paper actually are.
What the government seems to fail to understand is that, as a nation, we truly abhor the idea of the Nanny State. Even when the advice is right, we resent being told what to do - which is, after all, why so many people still smoke. So it is hardly surprising that everybody from media commentators to mums on the Clapham omnibus are eager to pick holes in diktats from Whitehall about our diets and sedentary lifestyles. If they think ministers have been over-stating the scale of the problem, then whatever advice and policy comes next will be ignored. It’s as simple as that. And it would be worth the government bearing that in mind as it puts the finishing touches to its Food and Health Action Plan.
Supersizing the figures
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