Jamie Oliver enrages This Morning fans with campaign

From Digital Spy

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This Morning's interview with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver left some viewers' blood boiling despite speaking about an excellent campaign to battle childhood obesity, after British children were dubbed some of the most overweight in the world.

A number of viewers demanded the TV chef "shut up" over the topic, while others dubbed him the "fun police" and criticised him for having lots of money, then lecturing poorer parents about buying healthier food, which is often more expensive.

Jamie has been championing a healthy diet for children for years, ever since he infamously ousted Turkey Twizzlers from school dinners. Now, a group of celebrities and campaigners have sent a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May and Parliament demanding action.

The letter demands a list of changes be enforced, including an end to junk food advertising on TV before 9pm following statistics that show more is spent on treating obesity in the UK than the fire and police services combined.

Jamie continued: "For the parents watching today, I know they're busy, I know they hear a lot of this. But... you want there to be a lot of people that care about the detail that turns into legislation for kids.

As for why Britain fares so badly when it comes to a good diet, Jamie said: "I think it goes way back to when the British industrial revolution happened – in comparison to the rest of Europe – the way that men and women went to work.

"At the heart of that is really an observation of, in my opinion, how women have been let down over the last 40 years, as women have gone to work, as the pot of tax has got bigger, because they're working. It's really important, that love and care, especially for children, [and] how do modern-day, busy, contemporary parents... how do we make their lives easier?"

[Warning: the following reactions contain strong language]

Meanwhile, others felt that the issue was being over-simplified and that issues such as teaching and exercise were much bigger factors.

Meanwhile, Phillip Schofield felt parents were given a raw deal, as he said: "We appear to be hoodwinked as consumers by the food industry. Yogurts that are aimed at children, they're fat free... but they're absolutely rammed with sugar. But until everybody is honest, you don't stand a chance."

Holly Willoughby, who is a spokesperson for Diet Coke, flagged that social media sites such as Facebook are struggling to tackle fake adverts, so was dubious if they could handle the real stuff as well.

This Morning continues weekdays from 10.30am.

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