Dr Duane Mellor

Dr Duane Mellor, Senior Teaching Fellow, Centre for Health & Society Aston Medical School and Associate Dean Public Engagement is available for comment on new NHS childhood obesity clinics "It would be about supporting the whole person living with obesity alongside their family. It is important that higher body weight is not a choice, but the result of biology and our modern environment. Families and young people need support to make healthier lifestyle choices easier. We need to focus on kind and effective ways to improve health, weight change is just a product when health behaviours change and should not be seen as the only or main aim." For more details contact  Nicola Jones Press and Communications Manager 07825 342091 or n.jones6@aston.ac.uk

In an unexpected twist, butter seems to be back on the menu. After years of being a maligned ingredient that many people shied away from, butter has now become the latest food trend on social media, thanks to the recent popularity of “butter boards”. These are sort of the meat-free equivalent of a charcuterie board. Butter is whipped then spread onto a chopping board, sprinkled with a variety of toppings – from sweet to savoury – and served with an accompaniment of choice (such as bread or a toasted baguette). But although they may be delicious, butter is still full of saturated fat – which many of us know can be harmful to our health. Here’s what you may want to consider before whipping up a butter board of your own. Is butter really that bad? Butter is made from cream, the fat-rich part of milk. While it’s usually made from cow’s milk, it can also be made from other milks such as goat milk. The reason that butter has been seen as a no-go for so many years is because it’s one of the ultimate sources of saturated fat. Butter contains around 80% fat, of which about two-thirds is saturated fat. It contains little else nutrient-wise. Saturated fats should be avoided in large amounts as they’re linked with many health problems, including heart disease and shorter life expectancy. Clinical trials have also shown that saturated fats can have an negative effects on blood cholesterol levels. When it comes to butter on its own, it appears that eating it has a relatively small or neutral effect on the risk of heart disease. But research that compared butter to olive oil (another source of saturated fat) found that butter can increase levels of LDL cholesterol, which is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol as it’s linked to greater risk of heart disease. But the majority of the butter many of us consume in our diets comes from other foods such as biscuits, cakes and pastries. Alongside butter, these foods tend also to contain high amounts of sugar, while being low in other nutrients. High intakes of these types of foods is also linked with greater risk of heart disease. Overall, sharing a butter board with friends every now and then is unlikely to cause much harm to your health. But doing it often, or eating very large quantities, could raise cholesterol levels and increase your risk of cardiovascular disease somewhat. It’s also worth bearing in mind what toppings you serve your butter board with. Certain foods (such as processed or cured meats) also contain saturated fats, and should only be enjoyed occasionally. Butter alternatives Since butter is very calorific and fat-rich, some people may want to look at using butter alternatives for the base of their butter board. The first substitute many people might look to is margarine. Margarine is chemically very similar to butter. Depending on the product though, it only contains around 40%-70% fat, making it a lighter alternative with a possibly similar taste. In the past, the processes needed to make margarine solid resulted in the production of trans fats, which have been linked to increased risk of heart disease. But these processes have since been improved so margarine no longer contain trans fat. So it may be a good option for people wary of the amount of fat they consume. Another alternative people may look at using is ghee, also sometimes known as clarified butter. A staple of Indian cooking, this is still made from milk, but the fat is much more concentrated as most of the water has been simmered away. This means it won’t have the same creamy texture as butter. Grass-fed ghee is as rich in saturated fats as butter. It also contains naturally produced trans fats. However, these trans fats are different to the industrially produced types which are bad for our health. But since ghee contains more calories than butter, it may not be the best choice for a butter board, especially if you’re looking for the best flavour. Cultured butter may also be a choice for your butter board. This is made from cream which has been fermented like yoghurt. However, no research to date has looked at whether the probiotics in cultured butter provide the same health benefits as those in yoghurt and other fermented foods. Nutrition-wise, it contains the same amount of fat and calories as regular butter. All in all, butter is not bad. But since it’s very high in calories and cholesterol, you may want to try not to have too much. Sharing a butter board with some friends or loved ones every now and again is unlikely to have any long-term negative impact on your health.

Research suggests nutrition education should be on the curriculum of all medical students as well as other healthcare professionals Association for Nutrition develops new curriculum ready for medical students Aston University is one of the pioneers in delivering and embedding nutrition education as part of its medical school undergraduate programme. All healthcare professionals should study a curriculum of nutrition education during their studies in order to help better support public health – new paper suggests. Nutritional researchers from Aston University, with colleagues from other universities and leading nutritional groups, worked with the Association of Nutrition (AfN) to help develop a curriculum that can be rolled out amongst all undergraduate medical school students with potential for modules to be taught to other healthcare professional courses. The paper jointly published in the British Journal for Nutrition and BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health examined the development of a new curriculum aimed at undergraduate medical students and made recommendations on its roll out nationally, with a view to it subsequently being implemented into other healthcare courses. The AfN Undergraduate Curriculum in Nutrition for medical doctors has been designed to be presented to medical students as an integral part of their general undergraduate training, making it clear how nutrition interrelates with the study of other systems and contributes to an inclusive understanding of health and disease. Dr Duane Mellor, clinical dietitian and senior lecturer at Aston Medical School at Aston University and co-author on the paper, said: “At present, lifestyle related health problems from living with obesity, through to high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and several cancers can all be linked to diet across our communities. Whereas in hospitals around a third of patients coming in can be undernourished. “Nutrition and food play a key role to both keeping us healthy and helping to manage disease, which is why it is imperative we educate our future doctors and other health professionals about the role of nutrition in patient care.” The paper sets out not only the need for nutrition education and the gaps, but how it can be included as part of what is already a very busy and content heavy curriculum. It builds on areas of the curriculum where nutrition could even be used to help teach concepts such as epidemiology. It highlights how historically medical education along with the education of many health professionals not specialising in nutrition often have only a few hours of teaching on the subject. Dr Glenys Jones, deputy chief executive at the Association for Nutrition, who led the curriculum development project and is co-author on the recent paper, said: “Nutrition is a key and modifiable determinant of health and wellbeing, therefore it is essential our future medical and healthcare professionals are equipped to be able to identify when nutrition could be involved in a patient’s condition in order for this to form part of their care. “The curriculum is not designed to turn our doctors into nutritionists or dietitians, but to give them the knowledge and skills to be able to think about whether nutrition could be playing a role and having the confidence and knowledge of who, when and how to refer on to suitable nutrition professionals when this is needed.” Aston University is a pioneer in the key area of nutrition education of the future healthcare workforce. As one of few UK universities with a dietitian or nutritionist as part of the teaching team within its medical school, these skills are now being developed to benefit the training of other health professionals. Dr Mellor added: “As one of a few dietitians and nutritionists embedded into the teaching team at Aston Medical School, we have been able to integrate nutrition across our curriculum. “It is great to be able to highlight how nutrition links to the basic science areas such as biochemistry through to how you can encourage a patient to think about changing their diet in clinical skills". Aston University has also started to explore with the Association for Nutrition the potential need for nutrition education in other professions. From this an outline of a core curriculum for nutrition for a range of health professionals is in development. Dr Mellor also plans to work with colleagues to further develop nutrition teaching at Aston University, thus helping students across subjects such as optometry and pharmacy to gain a better understanding of nutrition and how it impacts on their areas of expertise. For more information about Aston Medical School please visit our website.