Diets in the dock

Tom Mangold reports from America, the home of the burger, where the tide is turning against junk food.

It is blamed for the rising rates of obesity and health problems among Americans.

Congress have issued health warnings, schools have banned junk food from their premises and now Israel Bradley is one of the first people to take a junk food manufacturers to court.

Diabetes

Navdip Dhariwal discovers that it is not only in America that obesity is a problem.

In Britain, more and more children are clinically obese.

This has led to the emergence of diabetes II in children for the first time.

The disease is projected to cost the health service millions.

Acrylamide

Richard Bilton traces the discovery of a cancer-causing chemical found at levels over 400 times the recommended limits in some of our favourite foods.

He follows a scientific detective trail from an environmental accident at a Swedish railway tunnel through to the creation of a toxic chemical when carbohydrates are fried and baked.

Will this new information will transform our diets?

Healthy eating

Sally Magnusson examines the diets of our children.

With more and more parents going out to work, convenience foods form a large part of most families' diets.

We have become so divorced from what is going on our plates, how do we know our youngsters are eating the right things?

Are we encouraging them to adopt bad diets with serious health implications in later life?