Condemnation for 'oppressive' healthy lifestyle contracts  Plans
for patients to sign up to healthier lifestyles in return for
NHS care were today branded as patronising and humiliating by
patient organisations and public health experts.  Under the
plans, set out in a Labour party policy document, patients would
be expected to follow their doctors' instructions on healthy
eating, taking more exercise or quitting smoking.     She
criticised the document for failing to consider the impact of
regional health inequalities.  "The further north you go, the
more poverty there is and people have less money to spend on
food and looking after themselves.  "For people living in
poverty and poor housing, a cigarette can be the only relief
they get."  Amanda Sandford, research manager of the anti-
smoking organisation Ash, warned that the proposed contracts
could prove counter productive.  She said: "While trying to get
people to reflect on their individual responsibilities is an
interesting idea, I have doubts about tryin