Salt should be limited to 5gms a day – the amount in a standard tin of baked beans

Salt should be limited to 5gms a day – the amount in a standard tin of baked beans.The report, which is expected to be adopted as the agency’s official policy, comes as the Commons Health Select Committee prepares to cross-examine Pepsi, McDonald’s, Kelloggs and Cadbury Schweppes. The WHO believes that obesity is now one of the world’s three greatest health threats, along with smoking and malnutrition. Recent estimates suggest that 1.7 billion people are now overweight, leading to a surge in diseases such as cancers and diabetes.The WHO will call for heavy cuts in the use of sugar, salt and saturated fats – a move that will alarm many of Britain’s top-selling brands, including Cadbury’s, Coca-Cola, and Birds Eye.The WHO will produce a policy paper calling for new daily limits for sugar, salt and fats, as well as tougher control of food advertising.The safety threshold for sugar would be 10gms a day – a limit already exceeded by one 500ml bottle of cola. We must present sport as an activity for everyone, whatever their shape or size, and this particularly applies to women.”Campbell, unmarried and a self-confessed workaholic, is now two months into her 18-month stint as successor to the more ebullient Sir Rodney Walker at UK Sport. Her appointment follows that of Jack Straw’s best buddy, Patrick Carter, as chair of Sport England.

There are those who believe Carter was installed to do New Labour’s bidding. So is Campbell a Government lackey? She bridles at the question “I don’t think anyone who knows me can call me that. In fact at times I have had some strong words to say about the Government and investment in sport, particularly schools sport I’ve won some hard battles on that I’ve never seen myself as politically motivated. I love sport and that is my motivation, it is what I care about. I am a product of good sport myself.”Working with the Government was not a political statement by me, it was a real passion to try and get something done, which is why I am here. I wouldn’t have accepted this job if I thought I was expected to be an arm of the Government. Sport shaped my life, and it still does, because I know what it did for me.

I was a kid who without sport might have been seen as a problem child, but sport really engaged me, so I am very passionate about the power of sport and what it can do for young people. The other great experience in my life is having been an international athlete in the days when you had to buy your own kit, pay your own fares and sit in the back of the plane. It may sound arrogant, but I have a sense of destiny about being involved in sport.”Her appointment is part-time, for she still oversees the work of the Loughborough-based Youth Sports Trust, where there has been recent controversy over the involvement with the Cadburys voucher scheme, which Campbell instigated. This brought in £9m worth of revenue which Campbell says went mainly into schools rather than the YST. That’s not buttons, chocolate or otherwise, but the idea of encouraging youngsters to collect these vouchers from products hardly renowned to encourage healthy eating, vouchers which can be exchanged for sports equipment, was condemned by many dieticians and nutritionists. Several schools – including Tim Henman’s alma mater in Cobham, Surrey – have banned chocolate- vending machines, and the scheme seemed to conflict with Tony Blair’s call to end obesity among school kids. Campbell insists she has no regrets while acknowledging it created a “huge debate”.”We did a lot of research, the majority of which showed the calorific intake of youngsters is not changing dramatically, even though obesity is rising What is needed to tackle obesity is physical activity.