Put Joanna in charge!

IN response to your article reporting on BMA Scotland’s new obesity fightback (News, January 13), I would say put Joanna Blythman in charge.

I have been reading Joanna’s books for at least 20 years. She knows exactly what is happening with our food, and to our food. Our digestive systems have evolved over millions of years, but what we eat now is a diet which only came into force after the Second World War, and our digestive systems have not yet got used to all the changes.

We cannot continue to put the NHS under this pressure, which is why the Scottish Government is trying to reduce the consumption of foods high in salt and sugar. Of course, the Food and Drink Federation is complaining about the plans. It’s in its interests to continue to sell, and to encourage us to want, unhealthy foods.

It is behaving in some ways like the tobacco industry, when governments were trying to discourage addicts from smoking.

Just like smoking, eating unhealthy food is having a terrible effect on our health. It is costing our health service so much money, when there are so many claims on it. It means long waiting times for treatment, it means some people die before they can be seen, it means targets are not met.

Yet some people continue to complain about “the nanny state”. Yes, people must take responsibility for their own health, but giving them the right information, and more importantly the means, to ensure they can eat healthy food will benefit the whole of society. Margaret Forbes Kilmacolm