Reducing obesity and CHD
By Mark Overton & Ruth McKeown

South Tyneside primary care trust set up a joint Choosing Health team with South Tyneside council to reduce obesity and coronary heart disease risks and linked morbidities. It based the team on a model already adopted for smoking cessation, which saw South Tyneside record the most successful quit rate in England and Wales in 2002-03.
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Using dietician resource to combat malnutrition
By Norman Evans

Malnutrition is a major problem in the UK and its treatment is a significant cost for primary care trusts. Appropriate nutritional and dietetic support improves patients' nutritional status and contributes to improvements in morbidity and mortality.
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More information
South Tyneside primary care trust’s Choosing Health team and strategy.

Department of Health senior scientific manager for obesity Dr Sheela Reddy and NICE Centre for Public Health Excellence director Mike Kelly will be among the speakers at HSJ’s Building Partnerships to Tackle Obesity conference in London on 17 November.

The government’s Choosing Health white paper last year and this year’s Delivering Choosing Health are essential reading for those interested in public health. Other PDFs from the Department of Health include the Chief Medical Officer’s latest annual report:

Choosing Health - making healthier choices easier (downloadable version);

Choosing a Better Diet - a food and health action plan