Original version

BBC World Service South Asia

Health Check

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Health issues and medical breakthroughs from around the world.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Health Check: Can a new star system help us to eat healthily?

Magazines & Reviews

Tacos with grilled steak and vegetables

2022/10/12 GMT

Can a new star system help us to eat healthily?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Can a new star system help us to eat healthily?

How to work out what to eat to stay healthy

Star ratings for the evidence behind claims about 'good' and 'bad' foods; how nicer toilets help our emotions; news of a monkeypox cluster around an ear piercing salon.

If you’re trying to work out what’s healthy to eat and what to avoid – there’s a new five star rating system. Researchers in the US have looked at previous studies which examined how much certain foods increased the risk of developing a particular disease – or if they could even protect you. Dr Chris Murray from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Washington says he hopes the star ratings will help people to make informed decisions about their health. We hear from Dr Tammy Tong, a nutritional epidemiologist at Oxford University about the strengths and limitations of this approach. 

Millions of people around the world use open-pit toilets – a hole in the ground where they can see and smell other people’s waste. The walls are often made of bits of metal and cloth and they are often shared between many families, provoking feelings of shame and disgust. Dr Ian Ross from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has been measuring the difference a nicer toilet can have on people’s quality of life in Mozambique – with help from Zaida Adriano Cumbe who talked to families involved in the study in Maputo.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Paula McGrath

(Picture: Tacos with grilled steak and vegetables, avocado, tomato, cilantro and lime. Photo credit: Istetiana/Getty Images.)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Health Check

Can a new star system help us to eat healthily?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service