3rd July 2017
Body positivity

Beauty and the beach

We’ve hit peak ‘Beach body ready’ in the Northern Hemisphere.  Two months’ worth of diets, exercise plans and tummy smoothing swimsuits have been forced upon us from every angle.  It’s now the height of summer and to those who dare to take their body to the beach with double digit body fat percentage: Tracy Anderson is coming to get you.   Who on earth is Tracy Anderson?  She’s a US-based personal trainer to the stars, who once fell out with Madonna and fell in with Gwyneth Paltrow and the Goopettes.  You can see where this is going already.  Now usually, I tend to ignore these celebrity trainers and self-appointed wellness gurus, but last week my interest was piqued and I […]
11th March 2017
Healthy diets

What is the best diet for health?

We have a long history of debating what is the best diet for health.  Certainly, there is not a dearth of information.  In fact we are assaulted from all angles with research articles, editorials, opinion pieces, diet books, press features, blogs and “just one weird tip” clickbait links.  It feels to many that all scientists do is argue about what is the best diet and the public cannot be blamed for zoning out and carrying on regardless of all the conflicting health advice out there.  However, given the growing disparity between lifespan and healthspan, is it possible to say what diet is the best for health?  I summarise an excellent review article of the most popular diets that actually have […]
22nd August 2016

What happened to the Childhood Obesity Strategy?

The recently published Government report on Childhood Obesity made for disappointing reading for most health campaigners with criticism being levelled at the reduction of a 50-page document to 10 pages of suggestions and proposals, issued in the parliamentary recess, in the middle of the Olympics, while ministers were away and therefore unable to discuss the content in parliament.   Overall, there were numerous key omissions versus last year’s Public Health England recommendations, notably on supermarket price promotions and marketing but also in the area of early years’ nutrition.  Why is this important?   PHE’s evidence-based report showed that marketing, whether via TV, brand characters, advergames or product placement within the supermarket, can influence children’s food preferences in favour of less […]
29th December 2015

New year, new you? Just don’t do a juice diet…

It’s the new year and many people will be signing up for gym memberships, going alcohol free for January or starting a new diet all in hope of getting healthier, fitter or losing weight.  But by the end of the month, many will have fallen off the wagon and resumed their normal habits.  Why is this and what can you do to break the cycle of binge and diet? After the excesses of the festive season, many will resolve to get healthier in January but often they set unrealistic goals for weight loss and fitness or worse still, they embark upon a fad diet, of which there are no shortage in the media and on the bookshelves.  They make many […]