Britain’s obesity epidemic explored in two new BBC programmes

Posted on 24 April 2018 • Health

According to the Health Survey for England obesity levels in England have nearly doubled in the last 25 years, and nearly two thirds of adults were overweight or obese in 2015.

Now, two new BBC series co-produced with the OU set out to explore our national obesity epidemic, and what it means to be obese in Britain today.

Britain’s Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

BBC One’s new three-part series, Britain’s Fat Fight with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, starts on Wednesday 25 April 2018, 9pm (10:45pm in Scotland). Hugh confronts one of the UK’s biggest health crises, by examining and exposing how consumers are being misled by packaging and portion sizes, and bombarded by junk food advertising.

Through a series of stunts he takes on the food industry giants, pushing them to be more transparent about what’s in our food, and he takes his findings all the way to Number 10. As well as battling big businesses, Hugh tries to see if he can change the eating habits of a whole city by challenging the people of Newcastle to lose 100,000 lbs in weight in a year.

The Truth About Obesity

In a one-off episode on BBC One on Thursday 26 April at 8pm, The Truth About Obesity looks at the latest scientific research on obesity. While a fast food culture and our own genes have led to our expanding waistlines, small changes can help us all maximize the chances of keeping trim.

The programme reveals how a simple piece of string can tell you how healthy you are; when the best time to eat is; and how our gut bacteria may keep us slim – and we meet cutting edge researchers who hope to solve obesity with a simple injection.

Working closely with the OU

Dr Joan Simons is the OU academic consultant who has been closely involved in developing both programmes:

“Britain’s Fat Fight is an informative series that addresses some of the key challenges of adult and childhood obesity,” she says. “It shows how the whole community must support each other to tackle it.”

“As obesity becomes more common, we can become immune to it and even fail to recognise it because it has become more accepted as the norm,” she explains. “‘The Truth About Obesity’ programme will help you judge if you need to lose weight, and gives some useful tips how to go about it in your everyday life.”

Find out more

Read more about obesity and why it’s a challenge

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