Tory pledges on public health will be tested by proposals to improve the quality of the British diet Was it the silly, interfering food police gone mad or an overdue assault on the UK’s addiction to unhealthy food? Last week the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), who advise the government on what action will help to reduce sickness, recommended a number of measures to improve the quality of food, educate consumers about what they’re eating and curb some of the food industry’s excesses. This was tough stuff, and much more radical than the “fat t ... Jump to full article >>

A US consumer group has accused McDonald’s of “unfairly and deceptively” using Happy Meal toys to lure children into restaurants. The Center for Science in the Public Interest signalled that it would sue the fast food giant if it did not stop the practice within 30 days. The group accused McDonald’s of using “unfair and deceptive” marketing practices, which it claims violate consumer protection laws in the states of Massachusetts, Texas, California, New Jersey, and the Washington federal district. The group’s litigation director Stephen Gardner said: ... Jump to full article >>

A study shows that comfort foods, even those that are bad for us physically, provide a beneficial psychological effect. What does that mean for ’sin taxes.’? Ah, Memorial Day. It’s a holiday that encourages every red-blooded American to do two important things. The first, of course, is to remember those brave men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. The second is to eat junk food and barbecue and drink a lot of alcohol, soda and lemonade. The second Memorial Day rule is no small thing, particularly in an era a lot of people say is marked by an epidemic of obesity. A ... Jump to full article >>

Obesity and smoking may each raise a person’s risk of potentially dangerous blood clots in the veins, but certain other suspected risk factors seem to have no impact, a new study finds. The study, reported in the journal Circulation, investigated risk factors for venous thromboembolism — blood clots in the veins, usually affecting the legs. If one of these clots travels to the lungs, creating what is called a pulmonary embolism, it can prove fatal. Some studies have suggested that venous thromboembolism, or VTE, has largely the same risk factors as heart disease does, such as high ... Jump to full article >>

Unhealthy patients could be paid if they change their bad habits. Smokers, the obese and heavy drinkers would be targeted to help them improve their lifestyles. A project already under way in Kent offers overweight patients up to £425 to meet slimming targets. Over the next few months, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, the NHS advisory body, will look at this pilot scheme and other similar trials also under way. If they are successful, programmes like these could be introduced across the country by next year. They would see patients being given monetary prizes and vouchers under ... Jump to full article >>

You may think organic food is always better for you, but a new British study finds that wild birds beg to differ. The researchers found that the birds prefer conventional wheat seed, which helps them pack in the protein. The findings, study author Ailsa McKenzie of Newcastle University said in a news release from the school, were likely to be of “considerable interest to the general public in the debate over the relative merits of consuming organic food.” “Protein is an essential nutrient in the diet of all birds and mammals, and getting enough of it, especially in winter, can be hard,� ... Jump to full article >>

You know you need to lose weight. And you know you’re ready, whcih is more than half the battle. But you still have to pick from a seemingly endless array of weight-loss plans. How to decide? Experts who counsel overweight patients say there are two keys: Know yourself. That means being honest about what you will and won’t do, long-term. Evaluate and pick the diet that best suits you, watching out for key phrases or promises that are probably too good to be true. Choosing a weight-loss plan that’s going to work “takes some self-reflection,” said Amy Jamieson-Petonic, a registered d ... Jump to full article >>

People living in neighborhoods where traffic is perceived as a bother or dangerous may become fatter, Canadian researchers suggest. Study leader Tanya Berry, a professor in behavioral medicine and a population health expert at the University of Alberta, and colleagues surveyed 822 Edmontonians by telephone and asked questions about age, gender, education, employment, marital status and household annual income. Study participants were also asked about produce consumption, smoking and how much time they spent walking and sitting. The study participants self-reported their height and weight, and ... Jump to full article >>

Women with diabetes who ate a diet rich in bran-containing foods had a significantly lower death rate in a long-term study, researchers report. “Many studies before have found some protective effect in the general population,” said Dr. Lu Qi, an assistant professor of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of a report in the May 10 issue of Circulation. “Our study is the first in diabetic patients, and it provides direct evidence that whole grain, especially bran, reduces total mortality and cardiovascular mortality in diabetic patients.” Bran is the hard, fi ... Jump to full article >>

Junk food and sugary drinks could be hit with ‘fat taxes’ in an effort to combat obesity and help fill the black hole in Government finances. The Food Standards Agency is planning to consult on whether such taxes would help make people eat healthier food. If imposed, the taxes would operate on the same principle as those on tobacco and drink to change behaviour and raise money. The most likely option would be to apply the so- called fat tax to processed foods, snacks and sugary drinks. However, under one scenario, 17.5 per cent VAT might even be applied to full fat milk, butter and ... Jump to full article >>

Men who put on pounds after prostatectomy nearly double odds of recurrence, one study finds. Men treated for prostate cancer who smoke or put on excess pounds raise their odds of disease recurrence and of dying from the illness, two new studies show. The findings were presented Tuesday at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. In the first report, a team led by Dr. Jing Ma, an associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, found that obesity and smoking may not be risk factors for developing prostate cancer, bu ... Jump to full article >>