Fat chances
The National Obesity Forum said that Britain is reaching a ‘doomsday scenario’ where half the population is obese. What happened to previous government campaigns to tackle obesity?
— Between 1997 and 2008 the percentage of men getting the government’s recommended level of physical exercise grew from 32 per cent to 39 per cent, and women from 21 per cent to 29 per cent. And yet over the same period the proportion of men who are overweight or obese grew from 62.2 per cent to 65.9 per cent and women from 52.5 per cent to 56.9 per cent.
— In 2006 28 per cent of men and 32 per cent of women were eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. By 2010, after government campaigning, that had fallen to 25 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre
Art of the possible
Who are our most valued present and ex-MPs (judging by the public money spent on their portraits and statues)?
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