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I declare an interest, in that I am a practising NHS GP. I am a bit disappointed to hear that the issue of a reduction in red meat is due to the climate report, not simply to a discussion about healthy eating. I was glad that Dr Purdon eventually spoke about the risk of colorectal cancer. Ultimately, we need to eat a wide and varied diet, with a rainbow plate; one portion of red meat a week; far more fish; and far more vegetables.

I am also glad that Dr Purdon mentioned the food environment, because that is what I want to speak about. I have heard that all branches of Greggs are approximately 200m from a school. Is that accurate?

I believe that meal replacement shakes are part of a diet culture. A huge proportion of people—I suspect, most people—have been on diets, on and off, for their whole lives. Do consumers feel that things such as meal replacement shakes are healthy alternatives to eating well? If you do think that, what have you done about it?

On the perception of healthy foods versus what is actually healthy, a lot of people think that cereal bars are a very healthy alternative to having breakfast, whereas they are in fact full of sugar, salt and other things. A lot of foods are perceived to be healthy but are patently not. What research have you done on that and on the public’s perception of what is healthy?

I declare an interest as a practising NHS general practitioner.

Thank you for joining us, Dr Cass. I have grave concerns about the use of puberty blockers for children, given the paucity of evidence and given that the early intervention study did not demonstrate benefit. I feel that ideology and dogma have no place in medical treatment. Given that you have stated that young people’s gender identity is “fluid” and that there is “no hierarchy”, do you feel that there is an age where it becomes more fixed?

Certainly, the things that I believed when I was a child are very different from the things that I believe now, as are the things that I feel are or are not important.

In your report, recommendation 8 states that we should be looking to prescribe medication at 18, and recommendation 6 states that we need a trial. If medication were to be given below the age of 18, would it be appropriate for that to happen without parents’ knowledge, or do you feel that 18 is the right point? Also, given your previous statement, why did recommendation 8 state 18 as the age?

I have major concerns about private treatment. Throughout your report, you talk about a multidisciplinary team approach; it is, in fact, mentioned in recommendation 9. In that case, should a single private practitioner be prescribing medication? Is it appropriate for that to occur?

I will come back to schools. I do not particularly want to start banning things, but let us look at a meal deal from a supermarket. You get a sandwich, a drink and something else for a set price. I do not know many people who would choose a single banana over that massive chocolate bar. If we just look at value, a single banana in Aldi is 16 pence but the chocolate bar is £1-something, so people will go for the thing with value. Should we not be encouraging the supermarket to give that single piece of fruit, which has a very low value to the supermarket, free with that meal deal, regardless of what else someone is choosing? Maybe the person would choose to eat the fruit instead of the chocolate and save that for later and maybe not even eat it.

On that point, the supermarket knows everything about me through all my cards. I do not know, but they might even track the way that I walk through the supermarket. What we do know is that the most valuable spaces are the shelves that are at eye level, the end-of-aisle shelves and what you see when you walk in. Again, if you look at a Lidl or Aldi, it is fruit that you come to first, which is not always the case. In a lot of other supermarkets, you come first to that high-sugar content. Should we be looking at legislation or other ways of making sure that healthy foods are in the premium places rather than unhealthy foods, which I think is the case right now?

Certainly, a lot of people who speak to me say that Irn Bru has been ruined by reformulation. [Laughter.]

This is a big topic and it is not fair to give you just one question on it, but I want to ask you about school meals. We need to see big healthy choices for school meals, and they should be encouraged over other types of food. Do you feel that the best place to start is with very young children in nurseries, where teachers possibly have the time to introduce different flavours and tastes to children who might never have experienced that type of food? Teachers could help them to make those choices as they go through the school environment, so that the children actively make the choices.

We had a long discussion about that earlier.

I know that time is against us, but I have a final question. I have been on your website and I looked at your X account. You have 6,000 followers, or maybe fewer than that, so that is certainly something that can be improved. I did not see anything about portions on your website or X account. The size of our plates has gone from a side plate to what used to be a serving plate. Portion control is possibly one of the most important ways to have a healthy, balanced diet that allows calorie control and allows us to think about what we are doing. Using hands is a great way of doing that. Do you have any thoughts on that and how to promote it?