Cooking shows and celebrities more influential than government healthy eating campaigns

www.grub4life.com today reports that comments made by Health Minister Andrew Lansley at a conference in Brighton were critical of the ‘Jamie Oliver’ approach to increasing public awareness of health and fitness. Instead, the Minister advocated an ‘evidence-based’ solution to the nation’s health problems.10-07-2010

Commenting on current obesity and public health generally methods, the Minister said, “If we are constantly lecturing people and trying to tell them what to do, we will actually find that we undermine and are counterproductive in the results that we achieve."

At present, only 10% of UK adults say that they’re influenced in what they eat by governmental healthy eating campaigns.  Celebrities and media are more influential, with almost 21% influenced in their food choices by TV documentaries.  31% look to cookery programs for ideas on what to eat. The overriding factor in UK dietary habits appears to be friends and family with 39%, citing the advice of a friend or loved one as having the most influence on their diet.

There’s more evidence throughout the report that government influence is less than it might have hoped. For example, only 13% meet the government’s 5-a-day quota for fruit and vegetable consumption.

Reading deeper into the report it appears that the Minister’s protestations carry some weight. Many complain that the society-wide drive to be healthier can be overbearing, with 1 in 3 saying that there is a lot of fuss about what you can and can’t eat these days. 15% of UK adults say they feel that they are on a perpetual diet.