Britain’s Fat Fight

Britain is now the most obese country in Western Europe. Two-thirds of us are already overweightand there’s no doubt that our poor diet and lack of exercise is slowly killing us…as well as crippling the NHS. After smoking, obesity is the next biggest cause of premature death in the UK. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is on a mission to try and do something about it.

In this new BBC One series, he is going to push some of the biggest food companies and restaurant chains to be more transparent about what they are selling and he’s going to ask the Government what they’re doing to tackle this health crisis. Hugh’s also going to see if it is possible to change the eating habits of a whole city by challenging the people of Newcastle to lose 100,000lbs in a year.

Episode 1; Wednesday, 25th April,  9pm on BBC One
Bad eating habits start when we are children and to prove it, Hugh asks a group of 7-year-olds to do the weekly supermarket shop without their mums and dads. Unsurprisingly, most of the kids head for the cereal section, where they pick from any number of brightly coloured, highlysugared breakfast cereals. But do their parents realise how much sugar is in the boxes? Hugh challenges the big brands over their lack of transparency when it comes to their cereal labels. All the supermarket own-brand cereals carry traffic light labelling, which clearly shows in red, green or amber how much sugar is in the box… so why don’t the market leaders?

In Newcastle, Hugh kicks off his ambitious project to see how much weight a city can lose over the course of a year. But after launching ‘Newcastle Can’ in the city centre, passerby Julie stops him and tells him that he is talking to the wrong people. If he really wants to make significant change, he needs to go and talk to people who live more deprived parts of the city to understand the challenges they face. Hugh also meets local bus driver Jonny, who wants to lose weight but is addicted to snacking. This encourages Hugh to look at the increasing number of retailers who are tempting us into buying sweet treats on the go. Many of the major supermarkets have committed to stop selling confectionary at their checkouts, so why are other types of shops still doing it? Hugh sets up a replica of one chain’s confectionary laden checkout in a busy shopping street.