Fight back against fat with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Posted on 9 January 2019 • TV and radio

Britain’s Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is back for a final episode on Thursday 10 January on BBC One at 8pm. Co-produced by the BBC and The Open University’s Broadcast and Partnerships team, the series explores the misleading marketing claims on ‘healthy’ snacks, challenging the biggest food companies and restaurant chains to be more honest about what they’re selling.

In this showdown, Hugh joins Jamie Oliver as they visit Westminster to highlight the national issue of obesity – Britain is already the most overweight country in Western Europe, and if current trends continue, more than 50% of us will be obese by 2045. After almost 10,000 people signed Hugh’s letter to the Health Secretary, he finally gets the meeting he was fighting for, and discovers some exciting changes that are on the horizon.

The Open University will also be launching a free OpenLearn course, which explores children’s food, eating and health in the context of their rights. Children and young people: food and food marketing, asks what the factors are that influence the foods that children eat – children’s or parents’ choices, family or cultural influences, or the foods available in the wider eating environment?

It considers how policies frame obesity, and what effects strategies such as sugar taxes and marketing restrictions can have. Are food choices the responsibility of each individual? What role do food systems and environments including food marketing play in our choices? With animations, interactive videos, short excerpts and quizzes, learn about the issues and how we can better understand ways to create healthier worlds for children and young people.

Follow The Open University on Twitter or Facebook and it’ll be announced when the course goes live.

Britain’s Fight Fat with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is on BBC One on Thursday 10 January at 8pm. 

Find out more

Explore all of The Open University’s free materials relating to the series on OpenLearn

Read related pieces on the OU News site

Programme Credits

• Commissioned for The Open University by Dr Caroline Ogilvie
• OU Academic Consultants: Dr Joan Simons (Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, WELS)
• Lead OU Media Fellow: Dr Mathijas Lucassen (Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies, WELS)
• OU Broadcast Project Manager: Matthew Ray
• OU Digital Content Producer: Freyja Taylor-Law
• BBC Commissioning Editor: Clare Mottershead