BANT delighted by the news that the Government is considering a U-turn on a junk food advertising ban and two for one promotions
BANT (British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy) is delighted by the news that the Government is planning a u-turn in policy relating to banning junk food advertising and two for one promotions.
Just yesterday BANT called out for a different approach to the obesity crisis following the baffling decision by Public Health England to launch a campaign focusing on the outdated nutrition science of calorie counting, coupled with quotes from senior PHE members highlighting how processed food offerings can be selected to fall within the calorie limits and with no mention of simple, wholesome ingredients and home cooked fare.
Contrary to PHE, BANT suggests: the reintroduction of home economics classes in school; education about healthy eating; how diet and lifestyle can influence health over the short and long-term; and promotion by Government Agencies of the consumption of healthy ingredients and unprocessed food. This policy u-turn is the first step in the right direction and will set the background for establishing the changes needed to engender a long-term cultural shift which allows healthy behaviour adaptations to an environment that offers so many opportunities for unhealthy indulgence either knowingly or in ignorance.
The causes of obesity are multifactorial and can include increased stress levels, systemic low-grade inflammation, lack of exercise, and choice of foods and their preparation/cooking methods, amongst others. There is growing evidence that minimally processed foods like non-starchy vegetables and fruit are more satiating and elicit less of a glycaemic response than ultra-processed foods, so prevalent in typical British diets. Additionally, minimally processed foods are associated with a decreased risk of cardio-metabolic disease.
BANT continues to promote its Wellbeing Guidelines campaign to encourage the British people to eat more individual ingredients and unprocessed food. Going back to some old-fashioned values, such a family meal times, and improving the nations cooking skills to use fresh ingredients, will go a long way to help the obesity targets and health of the individuals.
BANT experts carefully developed a set of Wellbeing Guidelines, based on the latest science and research in the field of nutrition for optimal health. The BANT Wellbeing Guidelines were specifically designed to provide clear, concise, easy to understand information, avoiding out-dated information and research, and addressing some of the most common health concerns. The most frequent reasons people seek nutritional advice for is to address weight loss and/ or for general health and wellbeing. These issues are addressed by BANT with the following:
BANT Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners are regulated by the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) that holds an Accredited Voluntary Register (AVR) for the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA). A recent report by the Royal Society for Public Health and the Professional Standards Agency made a key recommendation that AR practitioners have the authority to make direct NHS referrals, in appropriate cases, to ease the administrative burden on GP surgeries.
As members of the CNHC Accredited Register, BANT Registered Nutritional Therapy Practitioners and other CNHC registrants, are the key workforce asset to harness 21st century lifestyle medicine to tackle the rising tide of stress related fatigue, obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, dementia and other chronic diseases.
To find a BANT practitioner, please click here: http://bant.org.uk/bant/jsp/practitionerSearch.faces
