Simon Howard

Simon John Howard is a public health doctor and academic working in the North East of England. He is known within the public health community for a number of controversial publications in high-impact journals on topics including nutrition, obesity and antimicrobial resistance.

Career

Work on nutrition and obesity

Howard came to prominence within the public health community in 2012, following publication of a controversial study comparing the nutritional content of television chefs' recipes and supermarket meals which concluded:

Neither recipes created by television chefs nor ready meals sold by three of the leading UK supermarkets complied with WHO recommendations. Recipes were less healthy than ready meals, containing significantly more energy, protein, fat, and saturated fat, and less fibre per portion than the ready meals.

— Simon Howard et al, BMJ

This paper received considerable national and international public attention, and became one of the most discussed primary research papers published in the BMJ in 2012. The academic importance of this work is demonstrated by its citation in international academic literature across a range of scientific disciplines. However, the research proved controversial, and was criticised by many in the academic community for pushing beyond the traditional boundaries of public health:

What this curious example seems to demonstrate is the way some people are disinclined to see boundaries between what public health does and what other professionals do, even celebrity chefs. This example also demonstrates a determination to insert a public health mission into every corner of our personal pleasures and private pursuits.

— Michael Gard and Carolyn Pluim, Schools and Public Health, pp16-17

Howard and colleagues were surprised that TV chefs' recipes scored worse on fat, protein, and fibre than ready made meals. Embedded in that surprise lies the assumption that health ought to prominently inform TV cooking. However, we do not watch Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver, or Heston Blumenthal because they promise us (public) health.

— Bart Penders, BMJ

Neither Howard nor his co-authors appear to have responded directly to this criticism. Howard further contributed to the debate by co-authoring a related BMJ editorial in 2014, suggesting that a "sugar tax" may help to tackle the rise of obesity in the UK. This intervention generated further controversy for the assertion that:

It is increasingly worrying that society is normalising overweight. For example, large mannequins are being introduced into clothes shops; “size inflation” means that clothes with the same size label have become progressively larger over recent decades; and media stories about overweight often feature pictures of severely obese people, which are unrepresentative of the majority of the overweight population.

— Simon Howard et al, BMJ

Much of the media criticism suggested that this was unhelpful in the wider societal context of undue weight being placed on physical appearance, though others praised the paper.

In broader work on nutrition and obesity, Howard has criticised both current nutritional labelling practices in the UK and suggestions that foodstuffs should be labelled with exercise equivalents of energy content. Howard has also criticised investment in cycling facilities as an anti-obesity intervention, suggesting that pedestrian facilities should be prioritised:

The number of pedestrian deaths and injuries is far higher than the number of deaths and injuries for cyclists … Some pedestrians fear collisions with cyclists, and some report feeling “terrorised” by cyclists.

— Simon Howard et al, Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer

Walking, mile-for-mile, burns two to three times the number of calories burned by cycling. It is far closer to universally available, since walking requires no special facilities or skills on the part of either the walker or the employer. Cycling is probably part of the solution [to the obesity problem]; but I remain unconvinced that it is the right answer for most.

— Simon Howard, BMJ

Work on antimicrobial resistance

In addition to his work on nutrition, Howard has written about the rise of antimicrobial resistance and strategies to tackle this, for academic and lay publications. Some have criticised the approach taken by Howard and Davies in their discussion of antimicrobial resistance as representing "scaremongering". In 2015, comments made by Howard in an opinion piece published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B which suggested that tackling antimicrobial resistance may lead to higher food prices received some attention in the UK national press.

In 2014, Howard presented work on treatment of Group A streptococcal infection in neonates at the UK's Federation of Infection Societies conference; this work was later published in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control.

Public mental health

Howard coauthored the UK Department of Health report "Public Mental Health Priorities: Investing in the evidence" in 2013. This report suggested that well-being interventions should not be publicly funded as they have no scientific evidence base.

In 2016, in a keynote address at Cumberland Lodge, Howard further claimed that investment in wellbeing interventions "critically compromises public mental health policy" as they have "no good evidence base".

In academic literature, Howard has claimed that there is an association between suicide and the use of social media.

Wider public health work

Howard qualified as a medical doctor with the degree MBBS from Newcastle University in 2008. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health and the Royal Society of Medicine, and a member of the Faculty of Public Health. Howard was awarded an MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research from Newcastle University in 2011. He is an associate member of Fuse, The Centre for Translational Research in Public Health.

Howard was appointed by the UK's Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, as Editor-in-Chief of her report on the state of the public's health in 2012: only the second time someone other than the Chief Medical Officer of the day has edited the statutory Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer. He is also cited as a contributor to each of Davies's other annual reports, and her book The Drugs Don't Work which portrays a post-antibiotic era in which antimicrobial resistance has become highly prevalent.

Howard has also worked on topics related to respiratory, dental and ophthalmic health. He is a regular guest lecturer at Newcastle University and a Health & Medicine author for Oxford University Press. Howard has previously contributed on health topics to The Pod Delusion.

Personal life

Howard previously maintained an active blog. This is most notable for an occasionally cited discussion with the UK Life League with whom Howard debated the topic of abortion after he was sent graphic images of aborted foetuses. Howard published a book of political opinion based on his blog in 2010.