Diabetes is at a record high because we’re fatter than ever. But what can be done?

The ‘eat less, do more’ advice, drug regimes and surgery for patients with type 2 diabetes have thus far proved unequal to the scale of this ever-growing menace

Tony Abbott’s boast of windfarm cuts contradicts earlier stand on renewables

Speaking to Sydney radio host Alan Jones, the prime minister took credit for cutting the growth of wind power, confirming a view many had long suspected

GP appointments are hard to get, say third of NHS patients in England

Difficulty seeing same doctor, booking online or obtaining evening appointments casts doubt on David Cameron’s aim of 8am-8pm seven-day GP access

The battle against childhood obesity has to start in pregnancy

Britain’s childhood obesity rate is, as Jeremy Hunt calls it, a scandal, but there has not been enough recognition of how early the problem begins

Almost one in four deaths ‘avoidable with lifestyle and healthcare changes’

ONS study shows 23% of deaths in England and Wales in 2013 were amenable to treatment or could have been prevented through public health measures

Food industry ‘responsibility deal’ has little effect on health, study finds

Firms agreed to make their products healthier, for example by reducing amounts of salt, but few have done so, researchers say

The Village Effect by Susan Pinker review – the science of friendship

Being sociable can lengthen your life – but there’s a risk of making it into a self-improvement chore

So homeopathy can help cure TB? Tell that to my sick patients

When politicians call for homeopathy and other alternative treatments to get government money, they’re promoting quackery and wasting desperately-needed funds

Death by chocolate: the sugar-fueled diabetes surge in South Asia

More disposable income combined with a traditional Indian fondness for sweets and snacks are leading to an epidemic of type 2 diabetes among South Asians

Shopping vouchers ‘most effective’ way to help pregnant women stop smoking

One-fifth kicked the habit before giving birth when receiving financial incentives in a Cambridge university study, more than twice the rate using traditional services