POLICY & PRACTICE: Briefing - A fresh way to encourage healthyeating

Is this the nanny state lecturing us about eating our greens again?

Some see this as a sensible attempt to codify the knowledge and skills young people should have by the age of 16.

And is that really necessary? For an informal educator, giving young people such information and skills gives them choices. For government officials it is also an important aspect of health policy. The UK population eats too much saturated fat, sugar and salt and not enough starchy foods, fruit and vegetables. A poor diet can lead to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and cancer.

But isn't there shedloads of information coming out on all this? According to the Food Standards Agency, there's plenty of evidence that young people may have the knowledge about healthy eating, but they don't put it into practice. There's a class issue too - a research study showed C2DE young people as having less variety of food but greater independence and responsibility for their food choices.