Simon Howard

Simon John Howard is a public health physician working in the North East of England. He has authored or co-authored a number of articles on public health in medical journals, and served as Public Health Registrar to Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies from 2013–2014, acting as Editor-in-Chief of the 2012 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer.

Biography

Howard qualified as a medical doctor with the degree MBBS from Newcastle University in 2008. He was awarded an MSc in Public Health and Health Services Research from Newcastle University in 2011.^[1]

He has authored and co-authored articles which criticise current nutritional labelling practices in the UK,^[2] and on topics related to respiratory,^[3][4] and ophthalmic health.^[5] From 2013–2014, Howard served as Public Health Registrar to Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies, and acted as Editor-in-Chief of the 2012 Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer.^[6][7] He has contributed to or co-authored a number of other works with Davies.^[8][9]

In 2012, Howard co-wrote a study in the British Medical Journal that compared the nutritional content of television chefs' recipes and supermarket meals. The study found that the chefs' meals were "less healthy" than ready-made supermarket meals.^[10] The article received considerable coverage in the news media,^{[11][12][13][14]} while some scholars criticised the assumption that "health ought to prominently inform TV cooking."^[15][16]

In 2010, Howard re-published a compilation of his political blog posts in a book titled Instant Opinion.^[17]