For children’s health, the government has to treat sugar like cigarettes | Gary Taubes

Let us not get out hopes up. Public Health England is in a very difficult position. Faced with unprecedented levels of obesity and diabetes, with a nation that keeps getting fatter and sicker, the agency clearly has to act. The obesity and diabetes epidemics represent a “slow-motion disaster,” as Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organisation, phrased it. So inaction is unacceptable.

Yet virtually everything PHE does now is likely to be either too little – unlikely to have any meaningful effect on the prevalence of obesity and diabetes – or too much, in that the industries that may indeed be responsible for the problem are likely to fight it. While the Treasury develops a levy for sugary soft drinks, PHE hopes to induce the producers of sugary foods to reduce the sugar in their products by 20%. If they can reformulate the product, all the better. If not, they should shrink the size of the product itself.

Commendable as PHE’s initiative is, reasons to be pessimistic abound. The programme is based on the idea that sugar does its damage to the body and to children merely through the calories it contains. As such there’s nothing particularly unique – either toxic or addictive – about sugar, as I and others have been arguing. We just consume too much of it.

Guidelines say children should have a maximum of 24-30g of sugar per day – a third of what they’re actually consuming

On the one hand, it’s hard to win a legal battle with an industry when the best you can argue is that we like their products a little too much for our own good. Some rigorous research targeted at answering the question of whether sugar has toxic qualities independent of its calories would help enormously here, even if it took years to complete.

On the other hand is the simple question of how much we can expect a 20% reduction in sugar to help. Will it curb the epidemics? Avert the slow-motion disaster? PHE predicts that this voluntary sugar reduction program will result in 200,000 fewer tonnes of sugar consumed in 2020 than are consumed today, and so 20% fewer overweight children as well. As Ernest Hemingway’s Jake Barnes might have put it in The Sun Also Rises, “isn’t it pretty to think so?”

Even if a 20% reduction in sugar consumption is achieved in three years (and that alone may be unprecedented) it pales in comparison to what health officials imply is necessary to get children eating healthier. UK guidelines now suggest that children should be consuming a maximum of 24-30g of sugar per day – six to seven sugar cubes. Even less for kids under six. According to a recent PHE survey, that’s one-third of what they’re actually consuming (much of which apparently comes in the morning as part of what their parents think of as a healthy breakfast).

So now, assuming industry goes along with this voluntary programme, and assuming that kids don’t respond to smaller portions or sugar-reduced formulations by eating more, both of which are possible, what’s the chance that we’ll see a significant curbing of the epidemics, even if the 20% goal is reached?

Let’s use cigarettes and lung cancer as our pedagogical example, confident, as we are, that cigarettes cause lung cancer. Cigarette consumption in the UK peaked in the mid-1970s when half of all men smoked and over 40% of women. Together they averaged 17 cigarettes a day. Now let’s imagine that we didn’t get those smokers to quit, but we managed to cut their consumption by 20%. Instead of 17 cigarettes a day, they’re averaging 14.

Would we expect to see a decrease in lung cancer prevalence? Would we expect that the lung cancer epidemic would be curbed at all, let alone within a few years of peak consumption? I would wager that even the PHE authorities would acknowledge that such a change would have little effect. Reasons here, too, would abound. Among them that it takes lung cancer risk 20 years to return to baseline after the smoker quits. So these 14-a-day smokers would still be at high risk, albeit perhaps not quite as high.

Indeed, in the US, per capita smoking began to decline in the mid-1960s, immediately after the surgeon general’s landmark Report on Smoking and Health. Lung cancer rates stopped rising only 30 years later. By then, per capita consumption had dropped by almost 50%. More importantly, when it comes to cigarettes, public health authorities don’t target the number of cigarettes smoked, but the number of smokers. Cut that number significantly, as we did, and lung cancer rates fall.

We see an overweight child with a chocolate bar and our tendency is to think that the chocolate bar is the proximate cause. Get rid of that chocolate bar, or shrink it in size, and we have a child who never gets overweight to begin with. But these epidemics of obesity and diabetes have been in the works since the late 19th century, cooking along, quite likely passed down from sugar-eating mothers to their children even in the womb. If so, our kids are getting fatter not just because they’re eating sugar, but because they’re programmed – epigenetically, in the scientific lingo – before they’re even born.

This epidemic has deep roots and may require drastic action to curb. That PHE is acting is admirable. But maybe we should treat this like cigarettes: aim to curb the number of sugar consumers, rather than the amount of sugar they consume. It will still take time to see an effect, but the odds of success will rise.

For children’s health, the government has to treat sugar like cigarettes | Gary Taubes

Smoking numbers hit new low as Britons turn to vaping to help quit cigarettes

The number of smokers in Britain has reached its lowest point since records began in 1974, according to new data, while more than a million people say they are using e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking.

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 17.2% of adults in the UK smoked in 2015, down from 20.1% in 2010.

Smoking levels are highest in Scotland, at 19.1%, followed by Northern Ireland, where it is 19%, Wales on 18.1% and England on 16.9%. The numbers have been dropping fastest in recent years in Scotland and Wales. Among local authorities, Blackpool is the only one to feature consistently in the 10 heaviest smoking areas between 2012 and 2015. In 2015, 25.3% of adults in Blackpool smoked.

Smoking by country

The data also shows that 2.3 million people were e-cigarette users in England, Scotland and Wales in 2015, about 4% of the population. Their survey also shows that 4 million more people describe themselves as former e-cigarette users. A further 2.6 million say they have tried them but not gone on to use them regularly.

Half of the 2.3 million who were current users of e-cigarettes at the time of the survey said they were doing it to quit smoking. A further 22% said they were vaping because it was less harmful than smoking. Only 10% said they chose to vape because it was cheaper than buying cigarettes. Others – 9% – said they used e-cigarettes mainly because they were permitted indoors.

The figures will bolster the arguments of those who believe e-cigarettes have a major role to play in ending the tobacco epidemic. The issue has been hugely controversial among public health doctors and campaigners, some of whom consider e-cigarettes to be a stalking horse for the tobacco industry which hopes to make smoking acceptable again and has invested in vaping.

e-cigarette users

The World Health Organisation has expressed concern over e-cigarettes, but Public Health England has said vaping may be 95% safer than smoking tobacco.

Half of current smokers say they have tried e-cigarettes, and 14.4% of current smokers also vape.

Some of the statistics suggest that it is often the heavier smokers who turn to e-cigarettes. Those who also vape smoke marginally more cigarettes per day on average than those who do not – 11.8 versus 11.3. Smokers who have given up on e-cigarettes smoke 12.2 per day versus 10.6 among those who have never used an e-cigarette. Smokers who have children at home are also more inclined to use e-cigarettes.

The ONS vaping data is from the opinions and lifestyle survey 2014-15 and relate just to Great Britain. The ONS figures on general smoking trends include northern Ireland.

smoking graphic

Men are more likely to smoke – 19.3% do, compared with 15.3% of women. Smoking is most common in the 25-34 age group, where 23% smoked in 2015. It is least common in the over-65s, among whom 8.8% smoke. But the biggest decline since 2010 has been among the 18-24 year-olds, where it has dropped five percentage points to 20.7% in five years.

Figures for Great Britain also show that smokers have been cutting back on the numbers of cigarettes they consume. Average consumption is down to 11.3 cigarettes per day, the lowest number since 1974.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH said: “The decline in smoking is very encouraging and shows that strong tobacco control measures are working. However, the government can’t leave it to individual smokers to try to quit on their own. If the downward trend is to continue we urgently need a new tobacco control plan for England, and proper funding for public health and for mass media campaigns. That’s essential if the prime minister is to live up to her promise to tackle health and social inequality.”

Smoking numbers hit new low as Britons turn to vaping to help quit cigarettes

The NHS has banned cigarettes and should ban meat too – both cause cancer

The World Health Organisation ranks bacon, ham and sausages alongside smoking as a cause of cancer, placing processed meats in the same carcinogenic category as asbestos, alcohol and arsenic. The World Cancer Research Fund advises eating cured meats as little as possible – ideally not at all. And there’s persuasive evidence that, compared to a solely plant-based diet, eating meat shortens life and makes people sicker and fatter.

Against this background, the NHS allows fast food chains in its hospitals. Patient menus offer a wide selection of meats every day. And creamed potatoes, beef casserole and sweet chilli pork and rice are recommended “healthier choices”. Patients can tuck into disease-promoting animal flesh, but do not enjoy unrestricted hedonism. Meat eaters who enjoy a relaxing cigarette after dinner are prevented from doing so, apparently in their own and others’ best interests, thanks to a blanket ban on smoking.

But how can the NHS sensibly ban cigarettes as a known health hazard while simultaneously promoting meat? To endorse one known danger while completely banning a similar one makes no sense. Either it’s OK to allow free choice or it’s OK to prevent “unhealthy behaviours”, but you can’t have it both ways. If you ban smoking you have to ban meat, which causes considerably more damage to animals, the environment and individuals than smoking. If you don’t ban meat, then you can’t ban smoking. Which is it to be? George Orwell coined the idea of doublethink in his dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four to highlight the troubling phenomenon where we simultaneously accept mutually contradictory beliefs as true, blissfully unaware there’s any conflict.

In doublethink we fail to notice even the most stunning inconsistencies. Most people like to think of themselves as animal lovers – in the UK for example about half of all households keep pets – yet it’s estimated that only 2%–10% of the UK population is vegetarian (will eat dairy and eggs) and less than 1% is vegan (will not eat or use any animal matter). So it seems that at least 50 million British animal lovers are happy to eat them, which is surely more than a little weird.

We’ve all seen people putting money in animal charity collection boxes with one hand, while eating a beef burger with the other. But even staring absurdity in the face, most of us don’t notice a problem. We only see it once we’re ready to. Until then we flick it away: “pets are different”, “pigs are meant to be eaten”, “we have to have our iron”, “all farmed animals are treated well”, “you can slaughter animals humanely”, and so on.

We are plagued by doublethink because we habitually separate the world into unrelated packets. Smoking is a health issue. Meat is normal. Alcohol is bad. Not allowing tobacco products to be displayed is health promotion. Allowing body parts of slaughtered animals on public view in supermarkets is wholesome. Illogical beliefs appear compatible if their true connections are disguised. Smoking is tightly wrapped in a packet labelled “Very bad for your health”, whereas eating meat is in a quite different packet called “a balanced diet” or “you need your protein”. So long as we see the world in disconnected chunks, we can avoid serious thought, and preserve the status quo. We need more opportunity to think deeply for ourselves. And where better to begin than in the NHS, which should offer balanced information about many life choices, not just those which it’s fashionable to ban.

David Seedhouse is professor of values-based practice at the University of Worcester. His new book, Thoughtful Health Care: A Practical Guide to the Power of Awareness will be published by Sage in the spring.

Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to read more pieces like this. And follow us on Twitter (@GdnHealthcare) to keep up with the latest healthcare news and views.

The NHS has banned cigarettes and should ban meat too – both cause cancer

Long-phrase smokers find plain-packaged cigarettes taste worse

Long-term smokers discover the taste of plain-packaged cigarettes worse than that of branded cigarettes, new research suggests.

A research of 51 smokers by the University of Newcastle also found that participants can no longer differentiate in between brands, saying all cigarettes now tasted the identical.

Tobacco businesses have denied changing elements, and co-writer and PhD candidate Ashleigh Guillaumier explained the study’s findings highlight the energy of branding.

“It truly is one particular of the primary reasons that the tobacco business fought so difficult towards the introduction of plain packs,” Guillaumier said.

“They have invested a whole lot of time developing up their branding and know how influential it is on people’s perceptions and expertise of the product.”

The researchers investigated the affect of the new one-colour packets dominated by vivid health warnings by conducting group discussions with smokers just before and soon after plain packaging was implemented in 2012.

“They could not discern a distinction among brands now and they thought the top quality of the tobacco had deteriorated.

“That was a steady talking stage that people genuinely agreed on in the groups sessions.”

Co-writer Associate Professor Billie Bonevski explained the review lent assistance to the plain-packaging legislation and presented fuel for other countries to get up the policy.

Plain packaging became mandatory on one December 2012.

The University of Newcastle study is published in Overall health Education Research (Oxford University Press).

Long-phrase smokers find plain-packaged cigarettes taste worse

Poll: need to cigarettes be completely banned?

Tim Crocker-Buque, a expert registrar in public overall health medication who proposed the movement, mentioned that it is unusual for people to make an informed choice to smoke in the course of adulthood. Photograph: PhotoAlto / Alamy/Alamy

The British Healthcare Association will vote on Tuesday on whether to lobby the government to permanently ban cigarettes for any person born soon after the yr 2000. This would not stop any adults who currently smoke from carrying out so but would imply that it will turn out to be progressively illegal more than time.

Supporters of the movement at the doctors’ union say the measure is necessary due to the fact 80% of smokers who consider up the habit make the choice to do so as children. The BMA have previously successfully lobbied the government to ban smoking in public areas and in cars carrying young children. The smokers’ group Forest mentioned the thought was “preposterous and discriminatory”.

What do you believe?

Poll: need to cigarettes be completely banned?

Nick Xenophon urges floor cost on cigarettes to outsmart tobacco giant

Independent senator Nick Xenophon is pushing for a minimum floor price tag on cigarettes to counter a tobacco giant’s “cynical” move to promote discounted packets.

British American Tobacco Australia has launched what it claims is the cheapest legal packet of cigarettes on the industry at $ 13 for a 25-pack.

It is blaming federal government policy for the move, saying it is merely looking for to remain competitive as income of reduce-cost cigarettes soar.

Xenophon has accused the tobacco giant of circumventing laws to discourage individuals from smoking.

He programs to introduce a resolution in the upper home subsequent week to look for a minimum floor price for all cigarettes offered in Australia.

“We want to outsmart massive tobacco in terms of what they’ve carried out with this value-discounting and reduction-major campaign,” he told ABC Television on Monday.

Xenophon will seek advice from with public overall health authorities on the most effective disincentive price but wants to see a minimum of $ twenty for a 25-pack.

It was the very best choice to fight a “deeply cynical” campaign aimed at boosting the ranks of younger smokers, he stated.

Xenophon also dismissed “exaggerated” market claims that plain packaging laws and huge excises were driving up black market place income.

Nick Xenophon urges floor cost on cigarettes to outsmart tobacco giant

Should the NHS give electronic cigarettes on prescription?

Some e-cigarettes will not be regulated and so could have unknown amounts of nicotine or other chemicals. Photograph: Garo/Phanie/Rex

Last week it was recommended by researchers that the NHS could start off prescribing e-cigarettes as a review finds them to be 60% much more efficient than nicotine substitute.

Euan Ferguson, Observer writer

The Observer needs to have a debate about whether the NHS need to prescribe e-cigarettes, and I, an ex-smoker, say no, and you, as a foremost spokesperson for the anti-smoking lobby, believe, potentially, it truly is a yes. Allow me set out my stall. I resented the smoking ban. I championed the right to smoke, and equally the rights of people to be offended by it taking place in their face – mine was a very dwell-and-allow-reside perspective, it is a large planet out there, and I could never fairly recognize the curtain-twitching intolerance on the element of either lobby. But what’s accomplished is carried out. The query now is ought to men and women be aided by the state to quit anything born of their own really human failings, namely an addiction. I feel not, any significantly less so than they need to assume help with gastric bands, or small breasts or willies. E-cigarettes – I curse them, but I have need to have of them – are a fantastic move towards “more healthy” smoking, but, let us encounter it, if you can afford to smoke or have smoked, you can afford to purchase a Ten Motives starter pack – about £14 – and a leading-up of five cartridges (£7) a couple of times a week. I do hope you disagree!

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Ash

Euan, I do disagree. Smoking prices are highest among the poorest and most disadvantaged in society. Youngsters developing up in properties exactly where their mothers and fathers smoke are 3 occasions as likely to smoke themselves, so this is a disadvantage passed down from generation to generation. Smoking is largely an addiction of childhood, not an grownup decision. Latest study appears to display that smokers are obtaining electronic cigarettes valuable in quitting, much more helpful than nicotine replacement treatment purchased more than the counter, and that is wonderful. Even so, smokers who get medication on prescription and help from the NHS end smoking companies are far far more profitable than if they consider to quit cold turkey or purchase nicotine items in excess of the counter. In addition, electronic cigarettes are at present really lightly regulated so their security and efficacy is not assured. We’d like to see them regulated as medicines to guarantee they are excellent high quality and so they can be manufactured available on prescription. Quitting smoking is vital for good quality and quantity of existence. Long-phrase smoking can shed you a decade or a lot more of life, plus several many years of unpleasant ill overall health beforehand from cancers, heart illness and strokes, often with lungs so destroyed by smoking that you struggle to draw breath for many years just before you die. These are not matters of private taste like the size of your breasts or your willy, but matters of daily life and death.

EF Deborah. With respect, I disagree profoundly with your contention that smoking is largely an addiction of childhood, not an grownup selection. This imposes not only a guilty burden on the mother or father but also a concatenate denial of children’s free of charge will as they mature, which increasingly they are not permitted to do. All the smokers I know started late. Some via an try to increase a personality, others by means of peer-group strain: but every through forgivable stupidity.

I am supremely conscious of the reality that smoking prices are highest among the poorest and most disadvantaged. Wealthy men and women have much more beauty to live for: when you are bad, less so.

A huge element of the difficulty is that for numerous years we have had so many bloody people lecturing us about stopping smoking who, crucially, didn’t, ever, smoke. Gums and patches had been never going to function, fail as they ever did to get into account the good tube-thing, in the fingers: it truly is not just the nicotine addiction, it really is the breaking of habits.

Nicotine is the most addictive of all medication. By rights, Marx ought to have written “religion is the nicotine of the people” and not let opium have a appear-in. So allow us, for now, have our fake cigarettes and our nicofix – but, rather please, allow us shell out for it. We’re utilized to it, inured to it, and will not want to even more upset the horses.

DA This is not an “either/or” alternative. Electronic cigarettes would nevertheless be accessible on common sale for smokers and ex-smokers like you to get. All I am arguing is that they should also be offered, where they meet the essential requirements, on prescription for smokers. Assist to quit smoking by means of the NHS is amongst the most cost-powerful [pdf] healthcare interventions there is. This is since smoking is so deadly that even although not all smokers do well in quitting, even with NHS help, the positive aspects for those that do are substantial. It truly is also 1 of the number of treatments that does not conform to the inverse care law, so that poorer more disadvantaged smokers are a lot more, not less, very likely to use NHS aid to quit. Supplying effectively regulated electronic cigarettes on prescription would make them accessible free of charge to the poorest smokers who locate it hardest to quit. I can not realize why you would be against that.

One hundred thousand smokers die prematurely in the Uk each 12 months, with 20 instances as several suffering from conditions induced by smoking. The numbers of youngsters taking up smoking have dropped dramatically but it’s nonetheless hundreds a day, 1000′s a week. This continues to be an epidemic of epic proportions and demands to be taken care of as this kind of.

EF I appreciate hugely your goodwill in in search of to comprehend and defend what you know is a loathsome habit. Value-effectiveness is developing more and more vital in the NHS, and a successful ex-smoker can dwell a vital lifestyle. But you know Britain, and its stubborn waywardness. Supplying correctly regulated electronic cigarettes on prescription would without a doubt conserve lives, a great number of, but there would be an equal amount who would rebel, just because they can. It really is part of the odd elegance of this nation, that we have a tendency to not like becoming advised what to do. And I reiterate: any smoker, no matter how poor, can afford replacement e-cigarette treatment: it functions, just about, it’s more affordable than true smoking, and the tars and harmful toxins are avoided. By all implies please press ahead with a drive for high quality regulation – but I strongly suspect that a lot of smokers are fairly aware of their personal fault, their own addiction, and would prefer to workout cost-free will, the free of charge will to not smoke, or not to be obese, or not be an alcoholic, rather than undergo a type of infantilisation.

DA You say that any smoker no matter how poor can afford to purchase electronic cigarettes. E-cigarettes are not inexpensive and creating high quality assured products available on prescription will inspire more smokers to get help from the NHS and so conserve lives. It makes no sense to say that due to the fact items are offered on prescription smokers will be put off employing them because they come to feel infantilised. The NHS exists to supply large quality, free healthcare at the level of want. Really rightly, it does not make moral judgments about people

I am an ex-smoker. A lot more usually than you I had my first cigarette when I was 10, and was a typical smoker before I left college. Two thirds of smokers are like me, they begin ahead of 18, which is why I say it truly is an addiction of childhood. Like most smokers I tried to quit several times. The notion that smokers pick freely to smoke is a unsafe illusion that is fostered by the tobacco industry. For some people quitting can be easy, but for most it is a struggle just request the smokers who are dragging their drips behind them outdoors any hospital.

Should the NHS give electronic cigarettes on prescription?

Cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging as minister says smoking is "cruel waste of human potential"

Public Overall health Minister Jane Ellison has announced to the House of Commons that outlets will only sell cigarettes in plain packaging in England, calling smoking a “cruel waste of human likely”.

Her anouncement follows the outcomes of an independent report which she said exhibits plain packaging would be really likely to have a “constructive impact on public overall health.”

The government should consider “every single effective measure we can” to minimize the number of smokers in the nation, she additional.

Nevertheless her comments prompted cries of “shame” from Tory backbenchers, who described the move as a “nanny state” measure rather than a Conservative 1.

Cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging as minister says smoking is "cruel waste of human potential"

Cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging to cut smoking

Following a Government U-turn on the notion last yr, Sir Cyril Chantler, a major paediatrician, was asked to make a report on the evidence of whether or not the policy will support drive down smoking charges.

The Government is moving forward with strategies to ban branding on cigarette packs in England, Public Wellness Minister Jane Ellison informed MPs.

Health campaigners are sturdy supporters of plain packaging, believing that anything which could discourage smoking could conserve lives.

But tobacco producers declare that it is basically a stage in direction of banning “legitimate” smoking even though encouraging a black industry.

David Cameron appeared to distance himself from plain packaging in July final 12 months, saying additional proof was needed to show regardless of whether it would be powerful.

But, amid stress from Labour, ministers signalled in November that the policy could however be implemented just before the 2015 election based on the final result of the Chantler evaluation.

Cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging to cut smoking

England to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes

Smokers’ decision: cigarettes on show in a store. Photograph: Alex Segre/Alamy

The government is to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes, soon after a detailed overview of the evidence concluded that 1000′s fewer young children would consider up smoking if the packets have been unbranded and significantly less eye-catching.

The public overall health minister Jane Ellison told the Property of Commons that the Chantler overview, commissioned by the government soon after it postponed a determination on plain packs, “helps make a compelling situation that if standardised packaging had been introduced, it would be extremely most likely to have a good affect on public health”.

She said she would be introducing draft laws “so it is crystal clear what we intend”, and would announce the specifics shortly.

Her distinct concern was the take-up of smoking by children, and this was the concern Sir Cyril Chantler was asked to target on in his overview. Every day in the Uk around 60 kids commence smoking, and a lot of of these are probably to grow up with a nicotine addiction they would locate difficult to break. If smoking take-up was lowered by 2%, 4,000 fewer young children a year would develop the habit.

Ellison explained the chief health care officer, Dame Sally Davies, had seen the report and backed the proposal to introduce plain packs.

The government postponed a determination on plain packaging final summertime, provoking a political storm when it emerged that a lobbying company run by David Cameron’s election guru Lynton Crosby had assisted a key tobacco organization with its marketing and advertising techniques.

England to introduce plain packaging for cigarettes

Electronic cigarettes may encounter public ban in Wales

Electronic cigarettes are used virtually exclusively by recent and ex-smokers, the group Ash says. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

Wales could be the very first portion of the Uk to ban smoking e-cigarettes in enclosed public spaces.

The Welsh health minister, Mark Drakeford, stated officials had been contemplating a ban amid concerns that the items could “re-normalise” the use of conventional cigarettes.

He mentioned there had been also issues that their spread could undermine the ban on tobacco smoking in enclosed public spaces, generating it far more tough to enforce.

“We have invested 30 years … creating a climate in this country in which folks understand that smoking is not something that is to be regarded as glamorous or desirable. We are concerned that e-cigarettes might reverse that tide,” he told BBC Radio 4′s These days programme.

“We are concerned that they may act as a gateway to standard cigarettes. It includes nicotine, it is hugely addictive, and you may well then find it less complicated to move on to standard cigarettes.”

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the well being charity Ash, mentioned: “The concern that electronic cigarettes may possibly be a gateway into smoking is understandable.

“Even so, this is not borne out by the evidence so far from England, the place our investigation exhibits that their use is practically with out exception only amongst present and ex-smokers.

“There is expanding proof that they are successful in assisting smokers quit, and this is to be welcomed.

“We’re pleased that the Welsh government is consulting on regardless of whether to ban their use in enclosed public spots as it is critical to consider account of the proof before going ahead.”

Electronic cigarettes may encounter public ban in Wales

Ban sale of cigarettes to anyone born soon after 2000, medical professionals say

Tim Crocker-Buqué, a professional registrar in public wellness medication with the NHS, stated: “Humanity has never ever produced anything a lot more deadly than the cigarette.

Dr Crocker-Buqué said eight out of ten smokers began smoking as teens and an individual who started smoking at 15 was three instances far more most likely to die from smoking-relevant cancer than someone who started out in their 20s. “This is a highly addictive merchandise that kills 50 per cent of the consumers and it is so patently more than the stability of harm that we have to now work to stop the subsequent generation from falling into the nicotine trap,” he extra.

Mark Temple, a co-chairman of the BMA’s public overall health medication committee, agreed, adding: “If we avert accessibility to a group that is expanding older by means of time then slowly we will end effortless entry to tobacco items.”

But Ian Kennedy, yet another public wellness medication registrar, questioned if banning cigarettes for a certain area of the population was a sustainable policy, and asked why 13 to 14-yr-olds have been currently being targeted.

Ban sale of cigarettes to anyone born soon after 2000, medical professionals say

Packets of 10 cigarettes and menthol flavours banned under new EU rules

The legislation will consider effect in 2016 following what is anticipated to be a rubber stamp approval method by EU governments next month.

Professional-smoking groups have criticised a “nanny state mentality”, but cancer charities have backed the measures.

The new guidelines to be introduced across the European Union include:

• picture warnings should cover 65% of the front and back of every single packet of cigarettes, with added warnings on the best of the pack

• a ban on “lipstick-design” packs aimed at ladies – all packs have to have at least twenty cigarettes to leave space for overall health warnings

• roll-your-own tobacco packs to have comparable picture warnings

• a ban on promotional elements, this kind of saying “this solution is free of charge of additives” or is less dangerous than other brands

• a ban on flavoured cigarettes, such as menthol, fruit and vanilla

• a greatest nicotine-concentration degree for e-cigarettes.

• EU-broad monitoring of cigarettes to fight illegal trade

Ministers are expected to endorse the guidelines in March, to come into force in May possibly 2014. Member states will have two many years to introduce the legislation.

The European Commission says the new rules will “deter younger men and women from experimenting with, and turning into addicted to, tobacco” and must lead to a 2% drop in the sum smoked in excess of the up coming five years.

EU Wellness Commissioner Tonio Borg stated: “Nowadays is a wonderful day for EU health policy.

Today marks a genuine turning level for European tobacco handle ”

“The new rules will support to minimize the number of men and women who commence smoking in the EU.

“These measures place an finish to products which entice children and teens into commencing to smoke in the European Union.”

Nevertheless, the director of the pro-smoking campaign group Forest, Simon Clark said banning menthol cigarettes was a ban on client option that “will do little” to deter kids from smoking.

He also questioned the need to have for plain packaging legislation to take away any branding from packs, which is being deemed in some EU countries, including the United kingdom.

Packets of 10 cigarettes and menthol flavours banned under new EU rules

CVS will no longer promote cigarettes, but that doesn"t make it a overall health retailer

CVS, one particular of the biggest pharmacy chains in the US, kicked the habit this week. With some fanfare, like an approving statement from former smoker Barack Obama, CVS stated it would forgo the estimated $ 2bn annual revenue from tobacco goods, saying it was incompatible with its healthcare position.

Which is great, due to the fact smoking cigarettes is the leading preventable result in of death in the US. It kills 480,000 individuals a yr. Even so, some researchers say weight problems is overtaking cigarette smoking as the top result in of preventable death. Other folks say it has presently.

What do you have to say about that, CVS? Your aisles are groaning in fatty foods. Just seem all the temptations to which the Guardian succumbed when we popped in for a cold remedy this week.

All pictures Raya Jalabi for the Guardian

Hershey’s syrup

Primary ingredient: large-fructose corn syrup.

Yes, we know, a lot of in the United kingdom really don’t consider this chocolate. That is not what this is about …

Doritos Nacho Cheese

Corn syrup, sodium, excess fat – and you will stink of a cheese-like substance.

White Castle frozen cheeseburgers

They are cheeseburgers AND they are from White Castle, which claims to be the first chain to have sold 1bn burgers. Each burger has about 140 calories, which isn’t all that negative, but they are high in body fat.

Beer

The Centers for Disease Handle and Prevention estimates that 88,000 people die from extreme alcohol use each and every year in the US. Booze is also accountable for 1.2m emergency room visits and 2.7m physician workplace visits. In 2006, the financial expenses of extreme alcohol consumption were estimated at $ 223.5bn. But at least they sell Brooklyn lager, which is, you know, awesome.

Fudge Stripe three-layer cake

The much less mentioned about this, the greater.

Kraft macaroni and cheese

It is acquired “Yellow No 5” in it. Yellow No 5 is banned in some European nations due to achievable side effects. It is becoming phased out in the Uk due to a website link with hyperactivity in youngsters. Kraft dropped Yellow No five from its Uk Cheesey Pasta but nevertheless puts it in its US Macaroni and Cheese.

Coca-Cola

Typical consumption of sugary drinks can lead to bodyweight acquire, elevated danger of diabetes, enhanced chance of heart assault and enhanced danger of gout.

Scientific studies have shown that replacing soda like Coca-Cola with water or other decrease calorie drinks has a direct hyperlink with bodyweight loss in grownups.

‘Party Pizza’

The best cuts of pork, chicken AND beef go into the Party Pizza’s pepperoni. Oh, and just 1 of these relatively small pizzas (10oz, 289g) will give you 60% of your every day body fat and 60% of your every day sodium. Hurrah!

Chips Ahoy!

You get the idea now. Cookies are not very good for you, nautical theme or no.

Edy’s Grand Ice Cream

Tons of sugar, lots of excess fat, tons of cholesterol.

Antacid Tablets

The good news is, CVS does nevertheless promote some things related with a pharmacy. You will want these following consuming all the rest of this things.

CVS will no longer promote cigarettes, but that doesn"t make it a overall health retailer

CVS retailers will no longer promote cigarettes. It truly is the well being in excess of profit revolution | Nicholas Freudenberg

The CVS decision announced nowadays to stop marketing tobacco merchandise at its 7,600 pharmacies around the United States by 1 October is an critical step forward for public health – and for tobacco manage activists.

In accordance to Forbes, CVS CEO Larry Merlo believes that

continuing to promote cigarettes, which the Surgeon Common blames for 480,000 deaths every single year from heart ailment, lung cancer, and stroke, was anathema to CVS’ prolonged-phrase program to turn out to be a central player in the US healthcare program.

The CVS choice demonstrates that in excess of time, well being activists and public opinion can adjust corporate managers’ revenue-loss calculus. CVS predicts it will drop $ 2bn of $ 125bn in yearly revenues.

Possibly ironically, a huge chunk of CVS revenue come from medicines and supplies essential to deal with continual problems brought on by tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food consumption. The World Health Organization has identified these three goods as principal triggers of the growing epidemics of diabetes, heart ailment and cancer. By 2030, specialists predict, these illnesses, which previously trigger more than 60% of all deaths throughout the world, will cost the worldwide economy an estimated $ 47tn.

From a public wellness viewpoint, the CVS determination is very good news since study demonstrates that the ubiquity of unhealthy merchandise contributes to their overuse. The more locations individuals can buy and eat alcohol, tobacco, sugary drinks, salty snacks and quickly foods, the more they ingest. Alcohol, tobacco and processed meals companies know that straightforward entry triggers the cravings or addictions their items are made to elicit. Generally, they vociferously oppose any limits on their right to place their wares within arm’s reach. The choice by the nation’s 2nd largest pharmacy chain to decide on a distinct path exhibits that public mobilization, modifying social norms and regulation can combine to persuade at least some organizations to decide on the higher street.

So maybe the next stage for CVS and equivalent chains is to get rid of the candy, soda and snacks that contribute so significantly to diabetes. Perhaps cities and states that want to safeguard younger individuals from agonizing illnesses and premature death can use their zoning laws to limit the quantity of retailers selling unhealthy items. Alcohol, food and tobacco companies will, of course, increase the bogeyman of the nanny state, suggesting that any hard work to limit accessibility to sickening goods interferes with our freedom and absolves men and women of their obligation to protect their overall health.

But that argument is silly no a single is suggesting prohibition. Isn’t enticing children and youthful people to consume products that put them at chance of premature death and preventable sickness the height of irresponsibility? Wouldn’t most societies charge a nanny with youngster abuse if he or she tried to bypass parents to motivate children to begin risky habits? By hunting for extra techniques to persuade organizations that the public will not tolerate profiting from promoting condition, we inspire a lot more corporate leaders to do the proper point.

CVS retailers will no longer promote cigarettes. It truly is the well being in excess of profit revolution | Nicholas Freudenberg

Cigarettes kicked out of school in China

The newest ban, imposed by the Ministry of Education, covers kindergartens, elementary and middle colleges, and vocational schools. Universities need to set up smoking areas and forbid lighting up in academic buildings.

Anti-tobacco efforts have been hampered by the country’s strong tobacco monopoly, wellness campaigners say, which pays hundreds of billions of yuan in taxes every single 12 months.

Critics say yet another dilemma is that it is not clear who is responsible for punishing violators of cigarette bans, that means officials often just turn a blind eye.

Schools can no longer seek sponsorship from cigarette brand names or submit tobacco ads on campus, the ministry stated in a observe.

College principals should enforce the ban by installing smoke alarms or surveillance cameras to spot offenders. School canteens need to also cease marketing tobacco.

Colleges that do not crack down correctly will be punished, the ministry said.

As component of the battle against smoking, the government had earlier urged Communist Party cadres and government officials to cease smoking in schools, workplaces, stadiums, and on public transport and elsewhere to set a very good example.

edited by Arron Merat

Cigarettes kicked out of school in China

China bans cigarettes from schools

The newest ban, imposed by the Ministry of Education, covers kindergartens, elementary and middle colleges, and vocational colleges. Universities need to set up smoking areas and forbid lighting up in academic buildings.

Anti-tobacco efforts have been hampered by the country’s powerful tobacco monopoly, well being campaigners say, which pays hundreds of billions of yuan in taxes each yr.

Critics say an additional issue is that it is not clear who is accountable for punishing violators of cigarette bans, that means officials typically just flip a blind eye.

Schools can no longer look for sponsorship from cigarette brands or publish tobacco advertisements on campus, the ministry explained in a observe.

School principals must enforce the ban by putting in smoke alarms or surveillance cameras to spot offenders. College canteens have to also quit offering tobacco.

Colleges that do not crack down properly will be punished, the ministry explained.

As portion of the battle against smoking, the government had earlier urged Communist Celebration cadres and government officials to stop smoking in schools, workplaces, stadiums, and on public transport and elsewhere to set a great illustration.

edited by Arron Merat

China bans cigarettes from schools

Quitline calls up by 78% the month soon after plain packaging of cigarettes

Calls to the New South Wales Quitline increased by 78% in the month after the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes in 2012, though it is still not known if fewer individuals are smoking simply because of it.

The chief executive of the Cancer Institute NSW, David Currow, said the figures, from a study by the University of Sydney and the Cancer Institute NSW, showed plain packaging could be as powerful as smoke-cost-free regions, assistance applications and mass media campaigns

Calls to NSW Quitline elevated from 363 a week to a peak of 651 a week in the time period studied. In 2006 there was an 84% increase in calls following the introduction of graphic warnings.

The examine stated the spike in calls could not be explained by an increase in anti-tobacco advertising or the cost of cigarettes.

“This is an critical incremental phase in extensive tobacco control,” the study concluded.

The investigation was published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Currow said: “The impact of plain packaging appears to be significant, quick and sustained.

“Nations that introduce plain packaging can come to feel a lot more assured that the policy has the meant effects.”

Research have yet to be finished into how several people have offered up smoking considering that the introduction of plain packaging, and for how lengthy.

The lead writer of the report, Professor Jane Young, said that even though the enhance in calls was less marked than in 2006, it was more immediate and lasted longer.

In November a report discovered plain packaging had led to an boost in unlawful tobacco, however total smoking costs had been down.

The research, funded by a tobacco company, discovered the sale of legal tobacco declined and the sum of tobacco consumed in Australia was declining, but there was an improve in the use of illicit tobacco.

The very first examine published after the introduction of plain packaging found it created cigarettes less appealing to smokers.

Quitline calls up by 78% the month soon after plain packaging of cigarettes