Growing Loud by Children in Scotland
Oct 21, 2026 · 37 min · 11 segments
How can we promote healthy lifestyles without stigma? Innes speaks to Julie Cameron from Obesity Action Scotland about the links between obesity, mental health and body image in children and young…
And what would you describe that relationship as? It's obviously very intertwined but you talk about prevention for instance, what are the focuses when you talk about that?
So when we look at something like obesity for instance, we know that obesity is one of the most increasing public health challenges of our time.
So it increases risk for things like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, numerous cancers.
But when you start to unpick some of that, you start to also look at, well, actually, what are the causes of this? And that's where it starts to be really interesting and intertwined with things like mental health.
Because if you look at the causes of poor mental health and if you look at the causes of poor obesity or rising rates of obesity, then actually they're interconnected.
And an awful lot of this comes back to the social circumstances within which people live.
and how these deeply entrenched health inequalities that people face means that actually so obesity is a prime example of this so we know that obesity is complex and it includes genetics similarly to mental health it includes family history your life experiences of course all of that's hugely important but actually the reality is if you are poorer and live in a poorer area you're much more likely to experience obesity than those who live in wealthier areas.
And you have to start thinking, well, why is that? And actually, when you start to peel some of this away, you can see that actually in the world that we live in, it's actually...
It's much easier and much more convenient to pick up unhealthy food than it is healthier food.
We know that if you're a young person or a child, you're twice as likely to be at risk of obesity than if you are a child who lives in a wealthier neighbourhood.
But we also know one of the things that's also really interesting is when you start to look at the environment in which we live.
And again, you can start to say, well, actually, is it a fair environment across everyone? Does everyone have fair treatment? Well, no, they don't.
Because actually, if you live in a neighbourhood that's poorer, you're much more likely to be experiencing a whole host of adverts that promote unhealthy foods.
In fact, there was a report that came out recently from the Food Standards Scotland that showed that in the last since 2014, there's been a 50% increase in fast food outlets in Scotland and a large part of them are in the poorest neighbourhoods.
So actually, when you start to look at obesity and you start to look, so all of these factors we call the social determinants of health.
And what would you describe that relationship as? It's obviously very intertwined but you talk about prevention for instance, what are the focuses when you talk about that?
So when we look at something like obesity for instance, we know that obesity is one of the most increasing public health challenges of our time.
So it increases risk for things like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, numerous cancers.
But when you start to unpick some of that, you start to also look at, well, actually, what are the causes of this? And that's where it starts to be really interesting and intertwined with things like mental health.
Because if you look at the causes of poor mental health and if you look at the causes of poor obesity or rising rates of obesity, then actually they're interconnected.
And an awful lot of this comes back to the social circumstances within which people live.
and how these deeply entrenched health inequalities that people face means that actually so obesity is a prime example of this so we know that obesity is complex and it includes genetics similarly to mental health it includes family history your life experiences of course all of that's hugely important but actually the reality is if you are poorer and live in a poorer area you're much more likely to experience obesity than those who live in wealthier areas.
And you have to start thinking, well, why is that? And actually, when you start to peel some of this away, you can see that actually in the world that we live in, it's actually...
It's much easier and much more convenient to pick up unhealthy food than it is healthier food.
We know that if you're a young person or a child, you're twice as likely to be at risk of obesity than if you are a child who lives in a wealthier neighbourhood.
But we also know one of the things that's also really interesting is when you start to look at the environment in which we live.
And again, you can start to say, well, actually, is it a fair environment across everyone? Does everyone have fair treatment? Well, no, they don't.
Because actually, if you live in a neighbourhood that's poorer, you're much more likely to be experiencing a whole host of adverts that promote unhealthy foods.
In fact, there was a report that came out recently from the Food Standards Scotland that showed that in the last since 2014, there's been a 50% increase in fast food outlets in Scotland and a large part of them are in the poorest neighbourhoods.
So actually, when you start to look at obesity and you start to look, so all of these factors we call the social determinants of health.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
