Taxing high sugar snacks such as biscuits, cakes, and sweets might be more effective at reducing obesity levels than increasing the price of sugar sweetened drinks, suggests a study from Professor Theresa Marteau and colleagues, published in The BMJ. The effect seen in this study was double that seen for a similar price increase on […]
Increasing healthy life expectancy equitably in England by 5 years by 2035: could it be achieved?
In this Lancet Comment, Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, Professor Martin White and colleagues explain how increases in healthy life expectancy for the poorest as well as the rich might be achieved, in the context of an expected new prevention strategy for England setting out how the UK Government seeks to achieve life expectancy goals it […]
Changing Behaviour for a Healthier Population: PCU contributions to the Annual Report of the CMO, 2018
Professor Dame Sally Davies’s tenth report as Chief Medical Officer, published just before Christmas 2018, examines the strategic opportunities over the coming two decades for the health of the nation. The report includes a detailed look at how principles for changing behaviour to improve health and reduce health inequalities could be applied, authored by Professor […]
Lessons from a case of academic misconduct
How should academic institutions—universities, funders, and journal editors— address academic misconduct of the type now known to have been committed by Brian Wansink, John Dyson professor of marketing at Cornell University? Wansink has had a total of 13 articles retracted as of 10 October 2018, following investigation by Cornell which found “misreporting of research data, […]
Partnerships with the alcohol industry at the expense of public health
Partnerships between public health agencies and industries which trade in potentially harmful products or activities – such as the recently announced and much criticised partnership between Public Health England (PHE) and the alcohol industry-funded body, Drinkaware – risk delaying or preventing effective policies to improve population health, say public health scientists Mark Petticrew, Martin McKee […]
Winners and losers? The challenges of communicating policy options
“To make policy decisions that align with our goals and values, we need to understand the expected outcomes of the different options. In this paper, we review existing communications of policy options, guidance for design, and evidence for effectiveness across a wide range of domains,” said Professor Theresa Marteau, introducing this review of policy option […]