Rickets and gout on the rise in the UK due to poor diet

Malnutrition and diseases such as rickets and gout are on the rise due to poor diet, a leading public health expert has warned.

According to The Observer, John Middleton, the vice president at the Faculty of Public Health, which represents doctors and public health workers, the body will call for changes to national food policy.

Ideas include introducing a sugar tax to address problems caused by poor diet and poverty.

“Malnutrition, rickets and other manifestations of extreme poor diet are becoming apparent. GPs are reporting rickets anecdotally in Manchester, the east end of London, Birmingham and the West Midlands. It is a condition we believed should have died out,” he told the newspaper.