Funds for study to fight obesity

The research has been funded to develop foods to fight obesity

A £4m research project between private food companies and academics has been launched in Wiltshire with the aim of improving the UK's diet and health.

One project about the psychology behind portion control known as "supersizing" is being led by Bristol University.

Researchers will look at how filling people think a food is before eating it and hope to develop foods which could help people to eat fewer calories.

There are currently nine projects and more research will be funded in 2009.

The Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC) was launched in 2007 and is a public-private partnership managed and led by the Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

'World-class science'

Dr Doug Yarrow, of the BBSRC, said: "The funding of these projects by DRINC represents an open and transparent collaboration between publicly funded science and the food industry.

"This work will ensure that the food industry can access the best of UK science to address some of the most important health issues faced by the UK today."

Dr Alistair Penman, of DRINC, said: "The projects funded by this partnership represent both world-class science, with some of the best diet and health researchers in the UK involved, and relevant science that we think will make a real, beneficial difference to the way we eat and the health of people in the UK."

The £4m covers nine research projects and a second round of projects worth £3m will be funded in 2009.