The obesity fight is about more than just fat
With 9% of the NHS budget still being spent on diet-related illness, we need to be thinking about more than just fat and sugar
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The fat spat has been a long time coming; it was always going to become a media football at some point. After sugar, which has been a success for the progressive reformers, the pro-fat fight has been looming for a while.
It is a necessary debate too. 9% of the NHS budget is still being spent on diet-related chronic diseases, so we are definitely doing something wrong. All that the National Obesity Forum has said is good advice and we are moving in the right direction. However, the most important words their report mentioned were “whole foods” and non-processed “meat, fish and dairy”, which are two phrases that have been completely lost in the media.
Tesco's finest pork sausages are not whole foods. Nor is a Danone yogurt. Nor are fish fingers. Yes, they do contain the good fats being debated, but like the doctored low-fat products that are rightly being trashed, they come with so much other crap that they are actually deeply unhealthy. This is not just a binary argument about how fat was once our enemy and is now our friend. The NAF’s report shines a light on many more dietary issues that we are overlooking as a society.
The fat debate may not make a massive change to public opinion on healthy food in itself, but it will speed up the journey towards food activism for millions of people, and double the interest in genuinely healthy food, so we must applaud it.
Leo Campbell is co-founder of the Modern Baker.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments