BMJ  2006;333:1022 (11 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.39024.383750.1F

Letters

The Full English: the full picture

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Spence is right about tackling obesity, but, to continue the metaphor, it's not just public health that needs to stop fiddling while Rome burns.¹ A lot of fruitless effort has been spent to promote the "right" behaviours at an individual level, and to endorse the importance of "making the healthy choice the easy choice."

Meanwhile, back in the real world, many people struggle to make sense of an increasingly inequitable, consumerist society driven by an insatiable appetite for economic growth. Arguably, obesity and climate change are just two of many adverse consequences of the trajectory we are currently following.

Let's cycle to work or take a healthy holiday if we can, but let's also ignite the debate about these issues. We are part of a group of public health specialists who are challenging the current healthy choice agenda (www.healthyfuture.org.uk).² Spence and others are welcome to join us physically or virtually.

¹ Glasgow Centre for Population Health, Glasgow

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