TY - JOUR T1 - The politics of behaviour JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 461 LP - 461 DO - 10.3399/bjgp10X509748 VL - 60 IS - 575 AU - Mike Fitzpatrick Y1 - 2010/06/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/60/575/461.2.abstract N2 - In his foreword to the policy green paper A Healthier Nation, David Cameron proposes an ‘altogether different’ and ‘entirely new’ approach to public health compared with that pursued by the Labour government over the past decade.1 But his emphasis on the need to ‘encourage people to make the right choices about what they eat, drink, and do in their leisure time’ sounds like the same old public health sermon that has been preached by different governments over the past 40 years.So, what is new and different? The central Tory theme is that policy will be guided by ‘cutting edge science and research’ in the spheres of ‘social psychology and behavioural economics’. The focus of government health … ER -