I am a Low Carber myself, so, yes, I am disappointed that the 'healthy' food message is the CICO Low fat Eatwell based diet that has been peddled since the 1980's and which many of us here find is unhelpful in our battle with Diabetes and other metabolic disorders. I am surprised that they actually named commercial diet plans in their recommendations. They should be educating and supporting the teaching of nutrition. I would have been happier if they had announced that they wanted to bring back Domestic Science as a curriculum subject in schools,
But I see some positives. Firstly, the move to ban junk food advertising in the media. Second, the removal of sweets and snacks from the checkout counter area. Third, support for bike riding and gym use, but not sure GP prescriptions will do it. Again more education support that explains how many miles per sugar lump you need to run / walk, like they did for the sugar tax (infographics to the fore!!!!)
There is also a glimmer in they are starting to talk about reducing processed foods and snacks, implying that we should go back to home prepared food again. But without the teaching backup that will not work out,
I am minded that the advice given out is a one size fits all solution, intended for all. Here on this forum, we wear blinkers when interacting, in that we have a vested interest that the diet does more than just lose weight and blubber. It is also intended to help us maintain control of our wayward metabolisms. To this end we have tools and monitoring both by GP oversight and home meters that allow us to see within tens of minutes exactly what effect a meal has on our bodies. So we can adjust our intake accordingly. But this is not what the rest of the population will do, They are running blind, and all they see is the scales (well, maybe not in some cases) which are reading last weeks meals. So diet plans that we use ourselves here do not necessarily adapt or scale up to the rest of the world.
Like others here, I note that the rise in obesity seems to begin with the introduction of both the Low Fat mantra and the introduction of Eatwell / food pyramid into the training for NHS nutritionists. By repeating this message yesterday, the gov is not moving off that path in any way, so IMHO the damage and obesity will continue to grow until the new understanding of how carbohydrates are metabolised is accepted by SACN et al. It will not change until the NHS starts educating nutritionists about Low Carbing as a valid tool to use.