Poor diet and smoking: the big killers

Abstract

Encouraging the UK public to quit smoking has been a public health feature for over a century to a greater or lesser degree. Persuading people to consume five or more portions of fruits and vegetables is a far newer health policy, with a history of only some ten years. The article compares the established anti‐smoking campaign with that of the fledgling “five‐a‐day” campaign to discover what, if anything, the latter can learn from the former, and what the future prospects may be for improving food choice. The two campaigns are compared in terms of the quality of health message and the environmental pressures adopted to facilitate the desired health behaviour. Motivation issues and the need to engage the public more were also seen as key campaign factors.