Complaint
The programme included an interview with a doctor prompted by the recently-published report by the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee which described obesity and diet-related disease as βa public health emergencyβ.Β Β A listener complained that the doctor referred to children in the UK as βs³Ω³ά²Τ³Ω±π»εβ in comparison with their peers in eastern and northern Europe, on the basis that stunting is a well-defined medical condition which was largely inapplicable to the cohort the doctor was talking about. Β The ECU considered the complaint in the light of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔβs editorial standards of accuracy.
Outcome
In response to the presenterβs request for clarification of what he meant by βs³Ω³ά²Τ³Ω±π»εβ, the doctor went on to say βStunted growth byβ¦a couple of inches, by about ten centimetres by the age of fiveβ.Β While recognising that this did not fit the medical definition of stunting, the ECU does not consider it inaccurate to use such terms in non-technical senses so long as their meaning is made clear to listeners β as was the case in this instance.
Not upheld