Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the role sensible portion sizes play in helping to tackle obesity.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England (PHE) has not made a specific assessment.
The Government’s reduction and reformulation programme includes reducing portion size as one mechanism that can be used by all sectors of the food industry. Calorie-based portion size guidelines covering food and drink consumed in and out of the home have been included in the sugar and calorie reduction programmes that Public Health England oversees for the Government.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to take to promote awareness on healthy portion sizes for food and drink.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England’s (PHE) Better Health programme provides tips on what a healthy balanced diet looks like, including information on portions sizes. For those trying to lose weight, the website and NHS Weight Loss app include suggestions such as trying smaller plates and bowls to help reduce portion sizes at mealtimes, aiming for two or more portions of veg and ensuring wholegrain foods take up no more than a third of a plate.
PHE’s OneYou Easy Meals app provides recipes with suggested portions for each recipe in line with nutritional requirements for adults. All recipes carry front of pack information per portion. The OneYou website also directs to the Eatwell Guide to support people in achieving a balanced diet. The Change4Life website includes information and advice for parents when feeding their children including on ‘me size meals’ and guidance on calories when choosing packaged snacks.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with food and drink manufacturers on reducing portion sizes.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England (PHE) has discussed various approaches that can be taken to reduce portion sizes with industry sectors including retailers, manufacturers and the eating out of home sector. It is for individual businesses to consider and decide how best to apply this.
Reducing portion size is one mechanism for industry action that can be employed in reformulation programmes. Calorie-based portion size guidelines covering food and drink consumed in and out of the home have been set in the sugar and calorie reduction programmes PHE oversees for the Government. The salt reduction programme includes maximum salt targets for portions of food served out of the home. There will be continued engagement with stakeholders on all parts of the programme. Updates on engagement are published regularly at the following link:
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of introducing portion control to support Public Health England’s reduction and reformulation programmes in relation to (a) sugar, (b) salt and (c) calories.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Reducing portion size is one mechanism for industry action that can be employed in reformulation programmes.
Calorie-based portion size guidelines covering food and drink consumed in and out of the home have been included in the sugar and calorie reduction programmes Public Health England oversees for the Government. The salt reduction programme includes maximum salt targets for portions of food served out of the home.
Reductions in portion size should reduce the number of calories, and amount of salt and sugar, consumed. An impact assessment, published in September 2020, showed that if the ambitions of the calorie reduction programme were achieved in full by in home retailers and manufacturers, it would result in a 6.8% reduction in calories sold per portion.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of clear portion size labelling on helping people make healthier choices.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s recommended front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme expresses information in a way that should be easily recognised by and meaningful to the consumer. It uses percentage reference intakes for adults, based on the amount of each nutrient and energy value in a portion of the food and drink. Whilst there has been no specific assessment of portion size, we recently consulted on our front-of-pack labelling scheme and will publish a response shortly.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many trusts have redeployed or significantly reduced their epilepsy services during the covid-19 outbreak; and what steps he is taking to prevent avoidable epilepsy deaths as a result of the outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
No assessment has been made on the number of trusts that have redeployed or reduced their epilepsy services.
National Health Service systems should continue to implement the guidance set out in NHS RightCare epilepsy toolkit. This toolkit provides expert practical advice and guidance on how to address epilepsy-related challenges, including sudden death in epilepsy and recommends that providers implement a standard risk template for people living with epilepsy, including all relevant resources.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of regular steroid use on the susceptibility of users to covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are not aware of a general assessment across all conditions of regular steroid use on the susceptibility of users to COVID-19. However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published COVID-19 rapid guidelines using the latest available evidence for specific conditions where there is an increased risk of COVID-19. Where relevant, these guidelines include recommendations related to the continuation of treatment of corticosteroids. These guidelines are kept under review.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned research to establish whether the immunosuppressant effect of regular steroid use has led to users contracting covid-19 more easily.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is not currently funding any research into whether the regular use of steroids can lead to users contracting COVID-19 more easily. However, the NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including on COVID-19 risk factors.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that in light of the recent MBRRACE maternal death inquiry evidencing continued rising maternal epilepsy mortality women with epilepsy receive balanced messaging from Government, policy makers, the media and clinicians on epilepsy mortality risks and the importance of their medications, to ensure informed choices can be made about their lives and care.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are unable to meet with SUDEP action and MBRRACE-UK at this time.
In light of the MBRRACE-UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reviewing available data and arranging to meet with key patient support organisations specialising in communication of maternal epilepsy mortality risks and clinicians to explore how information provided to women on important risks can be improved. The MHRA is also working with the wider healthcare network to explore additional ways of improving the reach of regulatory communications.
The conclusions of a safety review by the Commission of Human Medicines of the risks of epilepsy medicines in pregnancy have recently been published to aid discussions about suitable treatment options and support a balanced message on benefits and risks of each.
Asked by: David Amess (Conservative - Southend West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet SUDEP Action and MBRRACE to discuss the implementation of the recommendations in the newly published maternal deaths inquiry which highlights a more than doubling of deaths in women and their unborn children due to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) between 2016-18 compared to 2013-15 and a likely increase expected due to the pandemic.
Answered by Nadine Dorries
We are unable to meet with SUDEP action and MBRRACE-UK at this time.
In light of the MBRRACE-UK Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is reviewing available data and arranging to meet with key patient support organisations specialising in communication of maternal epilepsy mortality risks and clinicians to explore how information provided to women on important risks can be improved. The MHRA is also working with the wider healthcare network to explore additional ways of improving the reach of regulatory communications.
The conclusions of a safety review by the Commission of Human Medicines of the risks of epilepsy medicines in pregnancy have recently been published to aid discussions about suitable treatment options and support a balanced message on benefits and risks of each.