May. 17 2024
Source Page: Children’s Health in Northern Ireland 2022/23Found: Ireland 2022/23 A statistical profile containing information on various aspects of the health of children
Asked by: Baroness Goudie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to undertake a review into levels of childhood obesity and the role that the promotion of meals, snacks and drinks in early years settings can play in combatting this trend.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet, for the learning, development, and care of children from birth to five years old. The EYFS requires that where children are provided with meals, snacks, and drinks, they must be healthy, balanced, and nutritious. The EYFS also refers to example menus and guidance, which support parents, carers, and anyone working with children, to provide healthy food options. The Department for Education has also very recently published a range of tools and advice to support childminders, nursery leaders, and pre-school practitioners to improve the food offered in early years settings on the Help for early years providers platform.
May. 16 2024
Source Page: Moldovan GI product names: statement of objectionFound: It is recommended for adults, adolescents, young people a nd children aged over one year.
May. 16 2024
Source Page: I. Draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health education: Statutory guidance for governing bodies, proprietors, head teachers, principals, senior leadership teams, teachers. 44p. II. Review of the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health education statutory guidance. Government consultation. 27p. III. Letter dated 16/05/2024 from Gillian Keegan MP to the Deposited papers clerk regarding the above documents for deposit in the House libraries. 1p.Found: For example, looked after children or young carers.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Lab - Life peer) Another important factor is the failure to tackle serious public health problems, especially obesity. - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Baroness Sater (Con - Life peer) It has more than proved its value since 2013.The rise in obesity rates in children and young people is - Speech Link
2: Lord Monks (Lab - Life peer) It is a key weapon against the burgeoning growth of obesity, which is a national crisis. - Speech Link
3: Earl of Effingham (Con - Excepted Hereditary) crisis”, “Almost half of cancer cases linked to obesity”. - Speech Link
4: Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay (Con - Life peer) leaving primary school is overweight or obese, with one in five living with obesity. - Speech Link
Asked by: Paul Blomfield (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps to stop child friendly packaging being used to advertise unhealthy food to children.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to working with businesses to ensure that we create the conditions for a healthier nation, and we are implementing an ambitious programme of measures to tackle childhood obesity. On 1 October 2022, the Government introduced legislation to restrict the location of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar in shops and online. These restrictions will have the single biggest impact on reducing children’s calorie consumption, and are expected to accrue health benefits of over £57 billion, and provide the National Health Service savings of over £4 billion, over the next 25 years.
On 1 October 2025, the volume price promotion restrictions will come into force, restricting volume price promotions such as three for two offers on less healthy products. The Government will simultaneously introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9:00pm television watershed for products high in fat, salt, or sugar, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online, also on 1 October 2025. We continue to work with industry on the Food Data Transparency Partnership, to co-develop voluntary reporting requirements for food business to demonstrate the healthiness of their sales.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to protect children from unhealthy food and drink marketing.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to working with businesses to ensure that we create the conditions for a healthier nation, and we are implementing an ambitious programme of measures to tackle childhood obesity. On 1 October 2022, the Government introduced legislation to restrict the location of foods high in fat, salt, or sugar in shops and online.
On 1 October 2025, the volume price promotion restrictions will come into force, restricting volume price promotions such as three for two offers on less healthy products. The Government will simultaneously introduce a United Kingdom-wide 9:00pm television watershed for products high in fat, salt, or sugar, and a restriction of paid-for advertising of these products online, also on 1 October 2025. We continue to work with industry on the Food Data Transparency Partnership, to co-develop voluntary reporting requirements for food business to demonstrate the healthiness of their sales.
The Government, through its focus on prevention, is committed to improving the oral health of our young children through the Smile for Life programme, so that they have good habits by the time they start primary school.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of trends in childhood obesity levels in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last three years.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old, who would be in reception, and 10 to 11 years old, who would be in year 6. It provides detailed trend data on children’s weight status, including childhood obesity. While data is not available at a constituency level, it is available at a local authority, regional, and national level. The following table shows the obesity prevalence from the NCMP in Coventry, the West Midlands, and England, for 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23:
Area | Children aged four to five years old | Children aged 10 to 11 years old | ||||||
2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | |
Coventry | 11.7% | 15.2% | 10.4% | 9.8% | 25.3% | 30.2% | 26.7% | 25.6% |
West Midlands | 11.2% | 16% | 11.3% | 10.1% | 23.9% | 28.4% | 26.2% | 25.2% |
England | 9.9% | 14.4% | 10.1% | 9.2% | 21% | 25.5% | 23.4% | 22.7% |
Note: the data for 2019/20 was collected before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The data shows that the prevalence of obesity in children aged four to five years old has decreased since the increase seen in 2020/21, during the COVID-19 pandemic. For children aged 10 to 11 years old, prevalence has decreased, but it still remains higher in 2022/23 compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019/20, for the West Midlands and England. For Coventry, however, prevalence in 2022/23 is similar to pre-pandemic levels in 2019/20.