They topped the Christmas ratings with Wallace and Gromit’s bakery adventure, A Matter of Loaf and Death, but Aardman Animations’ latest challenge is their most daunting yet.
A cartoon advert by the award-winning firm will be the centrepiece of a £75m government marketing campaign intended to make the public aware of the fatal link between expanding waistlines and life-shortening disease.
Additional Stories
- Anti-obesity advert is sweet and easy to digest – The Guardian 2nd January 2008
- The Big Question: Can the Government really make us eat less and exercise to become slim? – The Independent 2nd January 2009
- Food firms sponsor anti-fat drive – The Independent 2nd January 2009
- School ban will keep junk food 400 metres from pupils – The Times 1st January 2009
- Government targets obesity rates – BBC Health News 2nd January 2009
Prison suicides down, but no room for complacency, says minister – The Guardian 2nd January 2008
The number of inmates who kill themselves in jails in England and Wales fell last year, according to figures published yesterday by the Ministry of Justice.
Sixty-one people, including one female inmate, took their own life in 2008, the ministry reported. This was down from 92 in 2007. It is the lowest figure since 1995 when 59 prisoners across the regions killed themselves.
Letters: Plan to rate GPs should get a score of zero – The Guardian 1st January 2009
As one of the doctors running patientopinion.org.uk , I was interested to see that the government plans to allow patients to rate and review their GP (Report, 30 December). At Patient Opinion we have nearly four years’ experience of online patient feedback about the NHS.
Quite apart from the medical politics, there are some fairly large pitfalls here: the risk of defamation; problems of bias; people (whether doctors or patients) trying to influence the overall score; and the big question – is there an overall benefit in terms of better health services?
Christina Zaba: New year, new database madness- The Guardian 31st December 2008
Sir Ken Macdonald is right to call the latest government proposals ‘an unimaginable hellhouse’ of personal data
Let students take drugs to boost brainpower, says leading academic – The Times 1st January 2009
Students should be allowed to take “smart drugs”, such as Ritalin, to help boost their academic performance, a leading academic has suggested.
John Harris, professor of bioethics and director of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester, said the government and medical profession should “seriously consider” making cognition-enhancing drugs available to students without prescription, or allowing them to be prescribed for non-therapeutic purposes, such as studying.
Additional Story
Britain’s oldest twins reveal secret to long life – The Times 1st January 2009
Britain’s oldest twins have beaten odds of 700 million to one to celebrate their 101st birthdays today. Betty Richards and Jenny Pelmore put their longevity down to remaining active and cheerful.
Mrs Pelmore, from Feock in Cornwall, who lives a short drive from her sister, said: “We are still in very good health and keep mobile. We are also together, which is the main thing. We have always been active and intend to remain so.” Mrs Richards said: “Live in the moment. Just keep smiling and keep going.” Last year they had a holiday in Budapest, and three years ago began learning Spanish for their travels.
Adults could be forced to take out private insurance to cover nursing home costs – The Telegraph 1st January 2009
Every adult could be forced to take out private insurance to cover the cost of their care in old age under plans being considered by the Government.
Drug-resistant ’superflu’ in Britain – The Telegraph 1st January 2008
A potentially deadly, drug-resistant strain of “superflu” is circulating in Britain, scientists have warned.
The potent virus, which is more likely to trigger serious complications in patients, is a strain of the previously known H1N1 influenza virus, but cannot be treated with the most common flu drug, Tamiflu.
Mother and boyfriend arrested after toddler dies from ‘multiple’ injuries – Daily Mail 2nd January 2009
A mother and her boyfriend have been arrested in connection with a murder investigation after the death of her 21-month-old son.
Collette Harris, 29, and her 24-year-old boyfriend were detained after paramedics who had been called to their home alerted police that her son Bobby had received several injuries.
Boozy Britain’s bloody New Year: A 999 call every seven seconds in alcohol-induced mayhem – Daily Mail 1st January 2009
Violence scarred celebrations and led to a bloody New Year across the country as emergency services endured a chaotic end to 2008.
Ambulance control centres reported receiving 999 calls as often as once every seven seconds – the second highest volume of calls since the Millennium – as binge drinkers turned nasty in the freezing temperatures.
Many of the calls related either to alcohol-fuelled assaults or excessive drunkenness.
Pictured: The disabled man ‘left to die by paramedics because he wasn’t worth saving’ – Daily Mail 1st January 2009
This is the first picture of the disabled man allegedly left to die by paramedics who thought he was not worth saving.
The two ambulancemen who reached Barry Baker and found him unconscious are said to have been caught on tape discussing not bothering to revive him.
When Barry Baker dialled 999 to say he thought he was having a heart attack, ambulance controllers kept him on the phone as they ordered paramedics to use their blue lights get to him as quickly as possible.
Never mind the sugar! Are our children being poisoned by their sweets? – Daily Mail 1st January 2009
How one father found his daughter’s treats were full of additives linked to eczema,asthma and hyperactivity.
My four-year-old daughter and I sit in front of a great heap of sweets. Her eyes are alight, like a pirate’s with his treasure: Sweets are her greatest passion. Just back from a friend’s party, she thinks she’s hit the jackpot.
Well before he was born doctors gave Kai Purdy no chance of survival.
Scans showing a life-threatening heart condition convinced specialists he had a rare genetic disorder which would probably leave him stillborn.
Yet Kai’s parents, Gaynor and Lee, would not give up on him despite advice to have an abortion.
She’s just had her very first Christmas with her beloved twins. But tragic Leanne knows it will also be her last – Daily Mail 31st December 2008
Like many new mothers, Leanne George savoured every moment of her children’s first Christmas.
She dressed her ten-month-old twins in matching Santa outfits for photographs by the tree, watched them tear open their presents for the first time and laughed as they sat in their high chairs for the turkey dinner.
NHS apartheid row as Scotland scraps hospital parking fees… but charges for English patients soar – Daily Mail 31st December 2008
Parking charges at NHS hospitals and clinics in England have risen by more than a third in four years, it has been revealed.
But in another example of medical apartheid, hospital parking will be made free from Thursday in Scotland and from April in Wales.\n\nThe latest figures for England showed that parking charges totalled almost £112million last year – an increase of 38 per cent compared with 2003/4.
Test could offer lung cancer clue – BBC Health News 31st December 2008
Testing a lung cancer patient’s blood could help doctors predict the likely success of chemotherapy treatment.
UK scientists identified a molecule made by a more aggressive form of the disease, the journal Clinical Cancer Research reported.
‘Child alcohol guide’ for parents – BBC Health News 31st December 2008
Parents are to be issued with government guidelines on letting their children drink alcohol at home.
Children can legally drink alcohol at home from the age of five under parental supervision.
The advice due in the spring from the chief medical officer will set out the health risks of alcohol to help parents set “safe boundaries”.
Monitoring mental health by text – BBC Health News 31st December 2008
Every morning at precisely 10 am Joe (not his real name) gets a text message from his clinician, asking how he is feeling.
From the data received the medical team can plot his mood swings, monitor how his medication is working and assess when he needs his next face-to-face appointment.
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