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Top TV Doctor Warns Big Food Companies Are ‘Feeding Our Kids to Death’
Children in Britain are being “fed to death” by unhealthy foods, a top TV doctor has warned. MPs on the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee were told that the nation is facing an “obesity pandemic” which is being driven by commercial interests.
Chris van Tulleken, professor of global health at University College London and a BBC TV doctor, said that a typical diet seen as “healthy” — which could include baked beans, fish fingers, whole grain bread, yogurt and breakfast cereal — would lead to someone eating more than the recommended daily level of calories.
“Everything about the packaging and the marketing and the regulations says this is healthy – there is not one red traffic light on any of these things, and none of these are HFSS (high in fat, salt or sugar), [but] you will definitely eat too many calories if you eat this kind of food,” he said. “It is engineered so that you cannot eat to appetite, it’s engineered very specifically and cleverly to bypass appetite.
Autism Study Supports Role of Elevated Blood Sugar in Pregnancy
A new analysis of Kaiser Permanente Northern California mothers and children adds to evidence that maternal blood sugar metabolism in pregnancy could play a role in the likelihood a child has of being diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder.
The study of 4,546 mother-child pairs did not find a significant link between gestational diabetes and risk of autism spectrum disorder or developmental delay in the children analyzed as one group. But when the researchers broke the data down by child sex and other factors, they found an elevated risk associated with gestational diabetes among girls only, and in children of both sexes whose mothers were diagnosed with gestational diabetes early in pregnancy (before 24 weeks gestation). A separate, less serious form of metabolic disorder, known as impaired glucose intolerance, was associated with increased risk of developmental delay. The study was published in JAMA Network Open.
Maternal blood sugar metabolism is one of many health factors being studied for their potential role in children’s development of autism. These findings, while statistically significant and in a large, well-designed study, add to the evidence around the complex question of how gestational diabetes might relate to autism. But they are not intended to prompt any changes in clinical advice to pregnant patients, said lead author Luke Grosvenor, Ph.D., a research fellow with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research.
Ethical Concerns and Lack of Data Leave Adolescent Psychedelic Therapy Largely Unexplored
There is a growing interest within the medical community in the use of psychedelic therapies to treat conditions ranging from depression and PTSD to anxiety and eating disorders. New research led by McGill University and published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health has found that while adolescents under 18 might also benefit from these types of treatments, they have been excluded from current clinical research in the field due to ethical, legal and regulatory concerns.
The lack of clinical evidence makes it difficult for clinicians and adolescent patients to make informed decisions with respect to the use of such therapies for this age group.
The researchers found that of the 1,600 psychedelics studies registered or published between January 2000 and April 2025, only four had proposed including participants under 18. None of these studies have been completed or published.
The researchers point out that many young people with mental illness don’t respond to standard treatments, and some will face lifelong impairment, or worse. A 2020 review in the Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry found that approximately one in three adolescents with major depressive disorder will not improve with standard care involving antidepressant medication and psychotherapy.
France Opens Criminal Probe Into TikTok Over Kids’ Mental Health Effects
French prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into TikTok for failing to safeguard the mental health of children on its platforms. It’s the first time the protection of minors on social media has led to criminal proceedings, marking a significant escalation in regulators’ push to protect children on the internet.
The probe comes after a parliamentary inquiry led by Socialist lawmaker Arthur Delaporte, which presented its findings on Sept. 11. A criminal investigation was opened by the Paris police’s cybercrime unit at the end of October, Delaporte wrote in a press release welcoming the news.
“Our commission’s empirical observation is that of an algorithmic trap that, in just a few interactions, increases exposure to harmful, anxiety-inducing, and depressing content,” he previously said. TikTok is regulated as a Very Large Online Platform by the European Commission under the EU’s Digital Services Act. The EU has been investigating TikTok for lapses in the protection of child users.
