Why policy makers and scientists are always wrong about obesity
A recent article that we wrote raises a number of important questions about obesity. Why do policy attempts to control obesity fail? Why do scientists ask the wrong questions about obesity? Why does searching for single causes of the so-called...
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The Lockdown Anniversary Edition…
Anniversaries are dangerous moments. A year after the start of the first UK lockdown on March 23rd , many have noted an escalation of anxiety, as we reflect on the impact of individual griefs and ruptures to the social body....
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Avoiding the blame game: Reframing conversations on racialised health inequalities
Conversations about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 felt by racially minoritised communities in the UK have also highlighted the pervasive and longstanding health inequalities they experience. Reports on COVID-19 by Public Health England and Independent SAGE highlight increased risk of exposure...
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Domestic violence, homelessness & safe housing in the wake of COVID
Shelter, homelessness and public health As coronavirus took hold earlier this year, states across the world began to lockdown. We were told at various points, across multiple geographies, to protect ourselves and others by staying at home and practising physical...
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Tiers of a clown…
This week I’ve been trying to make sense of the supposed Tory party backbench revolt on the new three-tier system introduced in England after lockdown two. Reports tell us that 55 Tory MPs voted against the government and a further...
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Laurel and Hardy vs the anti-vaxxers and vaccines
“People who spread myths about the harms of vaccines have ‘blood on their hands’”. These words came from the Health Secretary Matt Hancock little more than 18 months ago in an article in which he said that he refused to...
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Sweden is no libertarian paradise for dealing with COVID
Libertarian and conservative commentators extol Sweden as an alternative model for dealing with the COVID pandemic that steers away from the lockdowns with which we are familiar in the United Kingdom and the United States. Elon Musk and Toby Young,...
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Undermining public law is no way to protect public health
Safeguards on everything from procurement to notifiable diseases, health inspections to freedom of information, are being suspended at a time when accountability is more important than ever. The long dark shadow cast by Coronavirus has provided cover for the demise...
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Face-mask wearing and public health messaging
‘I was in the Co-op and I heard a child ask his father if he could have a face-mask like mine. The father replied, ‘no, don’t be so soft, we’re not doing that!’ There has recently been a major ‘about...
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British inequality: It’s time to trust hungry people
Carl Walker and colleagues make the case for food poverty as a public health emergency and call for concerted response from govt to inequalities only made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Pick a number, any number…
In the run-up to the 2019 general election, I wrote a piece about Boris Johnsons’ strategy for dealing with awkward interview questions. This outlined comment from Johnson himself, where he sketched his dead cat strategy. When faced with an impossible...
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Time and again? Temporality & public health