Delivering subject content through nine life themes
A new survey has found that tiredness is a key barrier to healthier lifestyle choices for many UK adults. Lack of motivation is another reason why many people do not make changes to their diet and become more physically active. It comes in the… Continue Reading “Healthy habits for life”
This is the third in a short series of blogs (see below) prompted by the recent report from the highly respected Institute for Government, which argued that past governments have failed to effectively tackle rising obesity’s root causes, that politicians’ fear of the charge… Continue Reading “Collective action on obesity”
A key phrase in the Institute for Government article on obesity that was the focus of last week’s blog was ‘political squeamishness’. Though the article’s headline referred to “ministers’ fear of nanny statism”, the phrase was there in the standfirst (the brief summary below… Continue Reading “Shifting the Overton window”
References to ‘the nanny state’ and ‘nanny statism’ have been much in the UK news since last Friday (21 April) following the resignation of Dominic Raab from the government. The justice secretary and deputy prime minister resigned after a bullying inquiry found that he… Continue Reading “A strategic approach to tackling obesity”
New figures released by Diabetes UK show that the number of people in the UK living with diabetes has topped five million for the first time. The charity’s chief executive says that the UK is in the grip of a rapidly escalating diabetes crisis.… Continue Reading “Dealing with diabetes”
It is fair to say that former world champion rower and Olympic medallist Cath Bishop is unimpressed by the recent government promises regarding school sport. She questions how much of what was announced is actually new and bemoans another missed opportunity “to connect PE… Continue Reading “A real vision for school sport”
The UK government has announced measures that aim to create equal school sport opportunities for girls, including playing football, and ensure a minimum of two hours of physical education per week. The intention is to build on the success of England’s women’s football team… Continue Reading “Girls’ football”
One of the 2020 National Food Strategy’s four objectives was to escape the junk-food cycle. Henry Dimbleby’s report described the country’s eating habits as a “slow-motion disaster” and warned of a toxic connection between child poverty, poor diet and hunger. As we wrote last… Continue Reading “Free school meals”
Two food-related news items caught the eye this week. The first involved the Beano comic, which was criticised for apparently promoting junk food to children on its website. The second was linked to the use of weight-loss drugs by the NHS. Some health experts… Continue Reading “Junking our junk-food culture”
Congratulations to the Daily Mile, which recently turned ten years old! According to the Daily Mile Foundation, four million children in 90 countries worldwide – including two million children in England alone – are now involved, twice as many as in 2019. Scotland was… Continue Reading “Benefits of the Daily Mile”