On Thursday 29 February, the House of Lords
Food, Diet and Obesity Committee will hold two evidence sessions
with senior academics and experts as it continues its inquiry
considering the role of ultra-processed food and foods high in
fat, salt and sugar in a healthy diet and tackling obesity.
The sessions will consider what a healthy diet looks like and the
role of dietary guidelines in strategies for tackling obesity and
diet-related disease. The Committee will also explore the role
that the gut microbiome plays in health outcomes and how this is
affected by diet.
The first session will start at 10.30am and will be
available to watch live or on demand at Parliament
TVor attend in person in Committee Room 3, Palace
of Westminster.
Giving evidence will be:
10.30am
-
Professor Janet Cade, Head of the Nutritional
Epidemiology Group, University of Leeds;
-
Rob Percival, Head of Food Policy, Soil
Association; and
-
Professor Eric Robinson, Professor of
Psychology and Public Health, University of Liverpool.
11.45am
-
Professor Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic
Epidemiology, King’s College London and Founder of ZOE; and
-
Dr Keren Papier, Senior Nutritional
Epidemiologist, University of Oxford.
Questions will include:
- What is a healthy diet, and how does poor diet contribute to
rates of obesity and ill health?
- What is ultra-processed food (UPF) and how useful is this
term? What factors distinguish UPF from HFSS products, and how
much do they overlap?
- What does the evidence tell us about the health impacts of
UPF and HFSS consumption?
- What role does the gut microbiome play in health outcomes and
how is this affected by diet?
- How influential is the food industry in driving poor health
outcomes and in the wider policymaking process, and which
specific elements of the industry are most influential? What is
the role and responsibility of the food industry in tackling
obesity?
- How effective are current government approaches, including
dietary guidelines and the Nutrient Profiling Model, in tackling
obesity and diet-related disease?
- What are the most effective strategies for tackling obesity
and diet-related disease and reducing associated health
inequalities?
