📻 Last night I spoke with Kait Borsay on Times Radio (@listentotimesradio.bsky.social ) about the UK government’s plan to ban energy drinks for under-16s🥤 🎧 Catch up here (my segment starts at 1:27:47) www.thetimes.com/radio/show/2... @lshtm.bsky.social

📢Proposal for high-caffeine energy drinks to be banned for children aged 16 and below. www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-react...

Modelling of estimated changes in BMI from changes in takeaway exposure from 2018 to 2040, finds that takeaway management zones in England have the potential to meaningfully contribute towards reducing obesity prevalence and associated healthcare burden in the adult population.

(1/4) 19 months after the introduction of the UK’s Sugar Drinks Industry Levy, households with children bought fewer sugary drinks! But researchers also found that sugary drink purchases went up by 14% in households WITHOUT children. Read - buff.ly/kgiuoAs

(1/6) Takeaways can negatively impact the diet and diet-related health outcomes of local residents Local authority urban planners can deny planning for new takeaways in management zones around schools But what are the long term impacts of these exclusion zones? Read - buff.ly/S04RDSP

Strong words from Ursula von der Leyen today: “Science belongs to humanity. We must protect it, prioritize it, and give it the freedom it needs to flourish.” At the launch of the EU’s “Choose Science - Choose Europe” initiative, she announced four key actions. 🧵1/3

The Uk government are consulting on extending the UK sugar tax by 1) including milk-based drinks (previously exempt) and 2) Lowering the threshold of the tax to cover drinks with >4g sugar/100ml (previously 5g/100 ml). www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🆕"How can we make food that is good for health, societies, the planet and the economy?" Richard Westcott talks to experts Jonathan Stieglitz, IAST, & @martinwhite33.bsky.social, @mrcepid.bsky.social, in this month's #CrossingChannels #Podcast Listen: pod.fo/e/2c3eac

We were pleased to organise a Parliamentary discussion on sugar with the APPG for Dentistry and Oral Health and @oha-updates.bsky.social Our Mick Armstrong spoke movingly about the shame and trauma of the families whose children need to have decayed teeth extracted in hospital.

I think I spot some figures from @ninarogers.bsky.social paper where we reported a 12% reduction in admissions for severe dental caries in children following introduction of the levy (and maybe even Nina herself in the foreground there!). nutrition.bmj.com/content/bmjn...

ASO attended a Parliamentary roundtable yesterday on the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL), discussing its role in improving public health through sugar reduction. Great to see @katfoodjenner.bsky.social from @oha-updates.bsky.social on the panel, sharing evidence of its impact and future potential.

Impacts were greatest in the lowest income households (14% reduction) and those with children (13.7% reduction. These households also had the highest pre-intervention purchasing. So the levy may help reduce inequalities in diet and health.

ICYMI: Our new paper on the impact of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy is out. 19 months after implementation, we found that households purchased 7.5g less sugar from soft drinks compared to expected - equivalent to a 2.6% reduction. nutrition.bmj.com/content/earl...

🥁Abstract submission now live for this year's conference!🥁 Conference dates: Wednesday 10th - Friday 12th September 2025, with an ECR day on Tuesday 9th Where: Bradford Submit your abstract here: bit.ly/3PKGo2k Submission deadline: 23:59 GMT, Monday 24th February 2025 📷 Neil Turner

nutrition.bmj.com/content/earl... Tax works Sugar consumption edition Helpful reminder To remind for almost any non communicable disease where "lifestyle" (term used advisedly) is at play the real answers are in 1. regulating industries that produce harm, and products ....

Calorie labelling has “modest” effect on food choice, Cochrane review .http://www.bmj.com/content/388/bmj.r106.short?rss=1 Take great care Calorie labels are not a substitute for regulation of advertising, product But will be sold as such Labels have great limits

Great to see this final(?) paper from our evaluation of the UK soft drinks industry levy (our soda tax) showing sustained reductions in sugar purchased from soft drinks by households. Effects seem greatest in those with highest baseline purchasing suggesting the levy may help reduce inequalities.

Thank you! We aimed to triangulate our evaluation of the UK SDIL by examining changes in consumption and purchasing of sugar from soft drinks and a number of health outcomes related to sugar intake. Our studies suggest that there are multiple benefits to the levy

📣New Paper:19 months after the UK soft drinks industry levy (SDIL; sugar tax) was enforced we find a 7.5g weekly household sugar reduction from soft drinks. Weekly sugar reductions were highest in houses with lowest incomes(70g/week) / with children(56g/week). 📄: nutrition.bmj.com/content/earl...

The junk food crisis harming Britain’s children www.ft.com/content/b503... A. It'll not be solved by Celeb Chefs in Schools Self regulation Cookery classes Campaigns B. It'll be solved by govt regulation With interventions focused on price, advertising, reformulation, availability

Stormy seas and a hardworking lighthouse: beautiful Southwold in January.

Speaking of commercial determinants of poor health, Nestle should win the top prize 🏆 Nestlé adds sugar to infant milk sold in poorer countries, but not in western countries www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

"Nourishing Britain" cites Unit research including Jody Hoenink et al. on price disparities between healthy and less healthy foods in the UK, and analyses of the UK SDIL by @ninarogers.bsky.social @jeanmadams.bsky.social @martinwhite33.bsky.social et al. www.mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/07... 2/2

🚨New paper:We modelled adult health impacts of takeaway management zones across rural & urban areas. A 50% reduction in takeaway growth led to reductions in obesity levels, incidence of type 2 diabetes, IHD, asthma, back pain,& some cancers.Plus gains in QALYs & healthcare savings 📃: rdcu.be/d0OUV

Great to be here 👋🏽 Let’s start with some good news. A new report shows free school meals in London's state primaries are having a positive impact: ➡️ Improving children’s health and wellbeing ➡️ Supporting families, esp. those struggling with the cost of living www.mirror.co.uk/news/politic...

(1/2) This morning Dr. Nina Rogers, a visiting scientist at the Unit, was interviewed by James Gallagher on BBC Radio 4 about the impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) on tooth decay and extraction on children. Her interview starts at 00:20:20 on https://buff.ly/3CD8Xvd

On today's episode of @BBCRadio4 Inside health, they ask "Can supervised toothbrushing fix the children's dental crisis?" I also talk about sugar, UK Soft Drinks Industry levy & how it may expand & our findings re:children's tooth extractions www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

👋🏻Bluesky! I'm an epidemiologist interested in ALL things public health incl evaluation of interventions (recently sugar taxes & takeaway exclusion zones) ageing well and kid's health. Advocate of lived experience/co-production. My very old cat signalling "it's time to switch platforms, human"

Great to see the contribution from Yuru Huang from @mrcepid.bsky.social to the Food Foundation's 2024 State of the Nation's Food Industry report. foodfoundation.org.uk/publication/...

We've put together an #Epidemiology / #EpiSky starter pack with some of our members & friends! Please share! TESTIMONIALS 'The original data scientists' - @miguelhernan.bsky.social 'The new rock stars' - @nytimes.com 'A science of high importance' - @natureportfolio.bsky.social go.bsky.app/K6DXCGi

Unit Professor Martin White will chair an online Cambridge Global Food Security discussion on the role of Ultra-Processed Food in our broken food system. Thurs 21 Nov, 17.30 (UK) Speakers: Dr Chris van Tulleken Dr Jag Singh Srai Dr Yanaina Chavez-Ugalde, Register at https://buff.ly/48Hi2iE