NEW REPORT

Nourishing Britain: A Political Manual for Improving the Nation’s Health

@HenryDimbleby & I interviewed 20 prime ministers, health secretaries & other top politicians from the last 30 years about the politics of obesity, food & health policy

Here’s what we found…🧵 All 20 politicians agreed that the government had not done enough to tackle obesity & food-related ill health, and that the government can and should do more.

Many expressed personal regret about not doing more during their own time in power.

They urged politicians to act now.

I've shared this poster from my PhD before, but the snakes & ladders of Government policymaking is sadly happening again.

In 2021, legislation was passed to tackle unhealthy food promotions e.g. buy-1-get-1-free on biscuits/crisps etc

BUT the PM is now considering repealing it. What does this mean?

It means Government led on a policy & passed the legislation one year, then may do a 180 to repeal it less than a year later.

This is bad for so many reasons, but ultimately it delays key action to tackle poor diets - a top cause of death & disease in 🇬🇧.

🧵Thread on rumours that the Prime Minister may scrap unhealthy food & drink promotions regulations

1/5: In 2020, Boris Johnson nearly died from Covid.

After surviving, he became determined to improve population health as he thought his weight was a big reason he fared badly.

https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1486787612962664454

2/5: To help do something, he published a bold obesity strategy 'Tackling Obesity' (2020) containing policies to legislate against unhealthy food & drink promotions.

The aim was to rebalance what food & drink is promoted, so things would be tilted in favour of healthy options.

So much more than a plan. It’s a vision.

Now is the time to act.

🧵#NationalFoodStrategy The @food_strategy focuses on 2️⃣ most urgent problems embedded in the food system:

1. The “Junk Food Cycle” 🍔🍫🔄 🍕🍟

2. The “Invisibility of Nature” 🐝🌳👩‍🌾

The aim?

🌍 Healthy planet
🫂 Healthy people

🆘This is critically urgent given the Covid pandemic & climate crisis.