Jamie Oliver (Naked Chef) Takes on Child Obesity at Ted

Jamie Oliver gives a Ted Prize speech on childhood obesity at the Ted Conference in southern California. He believes that the food reality in America is awful and that action must be taken.  Oliver is a food ambassador that commands attention, even of our nations tech leaders!

This is not a research presentation; it's a passionate, moving talk on the realities of death and the TRUE costs of a poor food culture.

Oliver is funny, he's honest. Because of his passion he has received $100,000 from Ted to fight childhood obesity. It's an 18 minute talk -- honestly, even if you only have time for the first 5, it's worth watching.



I believe obesity, heart disease, diabetes is about food - first and foremost - along with Oliver. But, he completely neglects the sedentary behavior of Americans and our kids as also part of this equation.

Maybe we do just need to focus on food. Public health needs to tackle food and food-related health problems in our country in a simple way, in a way that is easy to communicate to the public-at-large so that we garner support for our initiatives. When we spread our activities and our money so thin, what kind of impact can we really have?

I love that about 9 minutes in Oliver talks specifically about school food, and offers his support. At 11.5 minutes he demonstrates that kids in a typical American classroom can't name vegetables and drinks a wheel barrow full of added-sugar in milk over the course of 5 years of elementary school.

We can work in our homes, in our schools, in our communities to change the food environments so that kids eat healthier. We can prevent childhood obesity.