Lecturing people on healthy lifestyle can be counterproductive, he says
The new British health minister, Andrew Lansley, has criticized the former Labour government’s attempt to curb childhood obesity by serving better quality food at state-funded schools, a move promoted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. He says the coalition government’s health policy will be based on what actually works, showing a less interventionist approach, Reuters reports. The Jamie Oliver experiment actually led to fewer children eating school meals, said Lansley, a Conservative party member of the coalition, sparking a growing chain of attempts to control what kids eat. Instead, the government should encourage people to take control of their own health, he said. One in six kids in England were obese in 2008, while only 20 per cent ate the recommended five fruits and veggies per day.