Chair: Ann McNeill, Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies; Professor of Health Policy & Promotion, University of Nottingham

 

Today, dietary patterns are less likely to be shaped by nutrition recommendations than by the supply and marketing of food by multinational food companies and food retailers. Having a lower socioeconomic position is associated with generally consuming more energy dense nutrient poor foods and beverages, and a greater prevalence of overweight/obesity and other nutrition-related chronic diseases. By 2030, it is estimated there will be approximately 8.5 million incident cases of diabetes mellitus, 7.3 million incident cases of cardiovascular disease and more than half a million new cancer cases; with treatment costs approximately £2 billion per year.