Monday 22 June 2015

Obesity propaganda

On Friday, Aseem Malhotra, Mike Lean and some chap from the NHS wrote a factually inaccurate, incoherent and largely off-topic response to an article I wrote in the Spectator which said that obesity predictions were risible and that longevity is the real threat to the NHS.

I've replied to it today on Spectator blogs...

Two weeks ago I wrote an article for the Spectator in which I argued that obesity predictions are not worth the paper they’re written on and that the healthcare costs of obese people tend to be lower than those of people who are of ‘normal’ weight. Both arguments can be easily backed up with evidence, but since they undermine the narrative of an obesity time bomb destroying the NHS, they are rarely acknowledged and often contradicted.

Do read the rest. 

It doesn't surprise me that people like Malhotra and Lean believe so many things that ain't so, but it is worrying that somebody who advises the head of the NHS is so willfully ignorant. 

No comments: