The first episode in the two-part series airs this week.
Thirty years after the first government targets were set to tackle obesity, journalist and broadcaster Michael Mosley delves into why our politicians seem powerless to reverse – or even halt – the steep rise in the number of Brits living with obesity.
Mosley investigates whether the current government’s bold new plans have a hope of succeeding, where an astonishing 689 policies have previously failed.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s a challenge that’s never been more urgent. Over two episodes, Michael gets answers from political insiders at the highest level, hearing the truth about industry lobbying and political pressure; plus discovering that no one is able to put a figure on the amount spent by governments on decades of anti-obesity schemes.
He meets campaigners such as Jamie Oliver, who tell their own stories about what’s at stake if we can’t reduce the rise in obesity. Mosley also reveals his own passionately held beliefs on how to attack the crisis before it breaks the NHS.
In the first episode, Michael looks at why the policies of the past have failed, and whether new initiatives stand any better chance in the face of the massive advertising spend of fast-food companies. To highlight how extreme the problem has become, Mosley visits one of the new pre-school obesity clinics, where babies as young as one are being treated.
He discovers from the former chancellor George Osborne why the sugar tax didn’t go far enough and speaks to Jamie Oliver about the dark side of lobbying, and what Jamie believes is every PM’s pressing concern – the media. Michael further examines the might of fast-food advertising and the new phenomenon of ‘sports washing’.
Who Made Britain Fat with Michael Mosely, Channel 4, Wednesday 9th March, 9 pm
