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'Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants' is the advice of Michael Pollan in his book 'In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto'. See Consuming Passion, Guardian Unlimited, 7 January 2008. I wouldn't disagree. But I do take issue with his view that 'we should junk the science'. Hardly surprising, I suppose, that I should defend science, but surely the problems with 'overnutrition' and obesity are not just the fault of people in white coats dreaming up new ways to deliver fat, sugar and salt to our children? As a parent, I'm no fan of the weird and wonderful foods that entice our children to eat unhealthily any more than I believe that you can get healthy by popping pills or following faddy diets. But surely science can provide us with evidence to help us understand what constitutes a healthy diet, as well as helping us to understand the wider sociological and cultural issues that are influencing our choices. Perhaps then we can start to reverse the trend that, as a nation, we are getting fatter and fatter. Got any views? Have your say on the blog.