Behind the Headlines

Health dangers of fried food questioned

Wednesday Jan 25 2012

The idea that regularly eating fried foods causes heart attacks is a ‘myth’, The Daily Telegraph has today reported. The newspaper has panned the notion based on a large Spanish study investigating how people’s fried...

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Diabetes drug 'may aid weight loss'

Thursday Jan 12 2012

A “fat-busting jab could be the key to battling Britain’s obesity crisis”, the Daily Express has reported today. The news is based on a study looking at drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R)...

'Healthy snacks' may be high in calories

Tuesday Jan 3 2012

It is the time of year when research about diet and exercise makes a big splash in the headlines, but today the Daily Mail warned that dieters should steer clear of seemingly healthy dips and spreads that...

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Sitting down 'makes your bum bigger'

Tuesday Dec 6 2011

“Sitting around at work all day really does give you a bigger bottom,” according to the Daily Mail. The Daily Telegraph ran a similar headline. While these headlines refer to...

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Low-fat foods 'may cause weight gain'

Monday Dec 5 2011

Fat-free foods could “work against dieters”, The Daily Telegraph has reported. The newspaper said that fat substitutes may “confuse the body, gearing it up to receive calories that are never delivered”. The news is based on...

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Do big babies turn into obese kids?

Tuesday Nov 8 2011

“Bigger babies are more likely to become obese,” exclaims the Daily Mail, also reporting that parents should not assume their overweight children “are going to grow out of it”. This is based on a study that took weight...

Study tests slimming clubs

Thursday Sep 8 2011

“Weight-loss courses such as Weight Watchers should be used by the NHS as a weapon to tackle the obesity crisis,” according to the Daily Express. The story is based on research that found that overweight and obese...

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'Half of UK obese by 2030'

Friday Aug 26 2011

Many newspapers have reported that half of UK men could be obese by 2030 if trends continue. The Guardian said "governments around the world need to make immediate and dramatic policy changes to reverse a pandemic of obesity”.

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Years spent obese increase health risks

Tuesday Aug 23 2011

The BBC News today reported that the “health hazards of obesity may have been grossly underestimated because we are not measuring the condition adequately”. Its website says that we should...

'New wonder pill' hard to swallow

Friday Aug 19 2011

The Daily Mail has today hailed “an all-in-one treatment that works against obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer”. The news is based on lab tests of a synthetic compound called...