Welcome to my journal.
Get an insight into my day-to-day work and my perspective on key issues.
Open letter to the Mayor of London as London's Child Obesity Taskforce
Every child a healthy weight - still a critical priority for young people in London. An open letter to the Mayor of London.
Healthy Leadership: TESCO's Golden Opportunity
Right now, the UK's largest retailer has a momentous opportunity to improve the health of the nation. The opportunity is not only to support the health of their own customers, but also those of their competitors. How, you ask?
A Resolution to an Unhealthy Problem
In December I took the plunge and invested £4.80 in two TESCO shares. You'll know that TESCO is the UK's biggest supermarket with a 27% market share. It's a really important company to the success of the British economy: employing over 300,000 people and operating over 4,000 stores in the UK alone and selling us over £50Billion of food each year (Statistica.com 2016). As the founder and former CEO of a company supplying into the behemoth, I know what clout the company has not only in the supply chain of British retail, but in what foods we eat as a nation. It's not an exaggeration to say that the decisions it takes affect us all.
Putting Children's Healthy Weight Centre Stage in 2021
Every Child a Healthy Weight raised the curtain on a city-wide stage for this influential cast of actors to take action. The aim was, together, this cast would start to unleash a transformation so that every child has every chance to grow up eating healthily, drinking plenty of water and being physically active wherever they live in the city.
Letter to the Prime Minister regarding Child Obesity
I am writing in my role as Chair of London's Child Obesity Taskforce, as I was interested to hear that we have both been considering the emerging evidence on the detrimental impact obesity has on those suffering from Covid-19. Of course, we have known for some time that being overweight or obese has a devastating impact on an individual's physical and mental health; with 11,117 directly related hospital admissions recorded in 2018/19. In 2018, in England 28% of adults were obese and 3% were morbidly obese.
Mobilising Action - The Importance of Collaborations and Partnerships
I've taken a moment to reflect on how far London's Child Obesity Taskforce has come and the partnerships we have been fortunate enough to start building. As we move with renewed energy into 2020, we want to deepen these relationships and forge new ones; helping to bring our ambitions to life and become real for London's children.
Every Child a Healthy Weight
Eighteen months ago, I submitted my first job application in over 20 years. It was a long shot, but one that I was surprised and humbled to secure - Chair of the brand-new London's Child Obesity Taskforce, convened by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. His challenge, in a city where nearly 40% of its children are not a healthy weight, was to identify what actions would fundamentally change this. A complex, some say intractable, but vitally important issue - the sort of challenge I relish.
London Weighs in with Renewed Action on Child Obesity
I became a food entrepreneur in my mid-thirties. The lightbulb moment, that trigger to do it, happened as I watched my daughter Ella grow up happily, 'winning' at her all-important journey towards turning two. She had every opportunity to be healthy, including nutritious food, a comfortable home and a supportive family. But I was acutely aware that not every child has the same opportunity at the start of their life.
Fizz Free February: A Campaign to Cut Sugar with a Recipe that Might Just Cut Through
Fizz Free February is a simple new campaign for children, young people and adults to cut out fizzy drinks for the 28 days of February.
Immediate Action Is Needed to Avert Britain's Recipe for Disaster
Thousands of British children are going to school hungry every day, while the country faces an obesity and dietary crisis that is costing the NHS £6bn per year. The numbers speak for themselves: Britain has sleepwalked into a diet crisis, with unaffordable social and economic implications.
