Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
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 potential impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on obesity levels amongst people aged 18 and under.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
To date, Government has not assessed the impact of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) on obesity levels amongst people aged 18 years old and under.
Rogers et al. (2023) undertook an independent assessment of obesity prevalence in English primary school children and the United Kingdom SDIL. This assessment found that the SDIL was associated with decreased prevalence of obesity in Year Six girls, with the greatest differences in those living in the most deprived areas. They estimated that the reduced sugar-sweetened beverages consumption of drinks covered by SDIL may have prevented around 5,000 cases of obesity in Year Six girls aged 10 to 11 years old, across all socio-economic groups.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
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 help reduce childhood obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish on 20 January 2023 to Question 119899.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 screen children to identify those at risk of obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old in Reception and 10 to 11 years old in Year 6. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes national and local level data on Fingertips. For children aged four to five years old, the prevalence of obesity in England was 10.1% and 8.9% in York in the academic year 2021/22. For children aged 10-11 years old the prevalence of obesity in England was 23.4% and 18.9% in York in the academic year 2021/22.
NCMP is a surveillance programme providing trend data on childhood weight status. It is not a screening programme. However, local authorities can choose to notify parents of their children’s measurements. When a child is identified as living with obesity, a tailored feedback letter provides a parent with information about local healthy lifestyle and child weight management services available. They may also be invited to contact the school nursing team to discuss their child’s growth and support available.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the prevalence of obesity in children (a) nationally and (b) in York.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) collects data on children aged four to five years old in Reception and 10 to 11 years old in Year 6. The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities publishes national and local level data on Fingertips. For children aged four to five years old, the prevalence of obesity in England was 10.1% and 8.9% in York in the academic year 2021/22. For children aged 10-11 years old the prevalence of obesity in England was 23.4% and 18.9% in York in the academic year 2021/22.
NCMP is a surveillance programme providing trend data on childhood weight status. It is not a screening programme. However, local authorities can choose to notify parents of their children’s measurements. When a child is identified as living with obesity, a tailored feedback letter provides a parent with information about local healthy lifestyle and child weight management services available. They may also be invited to contact the school nursing team to discuss their child’s growth and support available.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to help ensure that public health teams are effectively tackling obesity in children and young people.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
There are resources available to assist public health teams in tacking obesity in children and young people including three National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, one on the identification, assessment and management of obesity in children, young people and adults, one on obesity prevention, which outlines how the National Health Service, local authorities, schools and workplaces can increase physical activity levels and make dietary improvements among their target populations, and one on how effective lifestyle weight management services for children and young people should be delivered.
In addition, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has published resources to support the commissioning and delivery of tier two behavioural weight management services for children, families, and adults which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/weight-management-guidance-for-commissioners-and-providers
The Government also provides robust public health data to local authorities through the National Child Measurement Programme, which can be used to inform the development of local childhood obesity strategies and enables them to plan services and monitor progress.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to help tackle childhood obesity.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish on 20 January 2023 to Question 119899.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
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 educate young people on food and exercise choices.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
As part of the Department’s policy on childhood obesity, the Better Health Families programme promotes healthy eating and being active amongst children, as well as supporting families and parents of young children.
The Better Health Schools programme is designed to empower children to make better choices by establishing healthier habits and modelling healthier behaviours, including on nutrition and physical activity. It does this by providing teachers with curriculum-linked lesson plans, pupil-led campaigns, whole-school activities, and information to help support their teaching around nutrition, physical activity and mental wellbeing. The programme also includes materials that help children continue healthy choices at home and encourage dialogue within families. The resources, many of which are approved by the PSHE Association, are free to use.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will consider the potential merits of (a) ensuring that the Good Choice badge in the NHS Food Scanner App is not applied to ultra-processed food products, (b) introducing dietary guidelines on consumption of ultra-processed foods, (c) introducing targets for reducing consumption of ultra-processed food by 2030, (d) conducting research on families' experience of accessing (i) ultra-processed and (ii) healthy foods and (e) taking steps to ensure the (A) accessibility and (B) affordability of healthy foods.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in fat, salt or sugar should be eaten less often or in small amounts.
UK Government dietary guidelines are based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish its initial assessment in the summer of 2023.
There is currently no universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods. However, a diet high in foods classified as processed is often high in calories, salt, saturated fat and sugar and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables, which is associated with an increased risk of obesity and developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
The Good Choice badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner app and when shopping in store and online. The app helps families to see what is in their food and drinks and suggests healthier alternatives, where these exist, that can help them cut down on sugar, saturated fat and salt. The Good Choice badge is underpinned by nutrition criteria that determine which products can display the badge.
The app and wider Better Health campaign supports families on their journey towards having a healthier diet, as making the step to the healthiest option may be too far for many people in one move.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funds a range of important research on obesity. This includes a project in the NIHR Obesity Policy Research Unit investigating how families in areas of low income experience food environments and another project investigating factors that drive parental decisions regarding food provision for infants across socio-economic position.
The Healthy Start Scheme supports eligible low-income families to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Recipients are also eligible for free Healthy start vitamins, boosting the long-term health of their children. The value of these vouchers was increased from £3.10 to £4.25 a week in April 2021, ensuring more families can have access to healthy and nourishing foods.
The Department for Education spend over £1 billion each year on free school meals. This includes around £600 million on Universal Infant Free School Meals, where the per meal rate has been increased to £2.41, backdated to April 2022 in recognition of recent cost pressures.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
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 introduce dietary guidelines to improve awareness of ultra-processed foods.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in fat, salt or sugar should be eaten less often or in small amounts.
UK Government dietary guidelines are based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish its initial assessment in the summer of 2023.
There is currently no universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods. However, a diet high in foods classified as processed is often high in calories, salt, saturated fat and sugar and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables, which is associated with an increased risk of obesity and developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
The Good Choice badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner app and when shopping in store and online. The app helps families to see what is in their food and drinks and suggests healthier alternatives, where these exist, that can help them cut down on sugar, saturated fat and salt. The Good Choice badge is underpinned by nutrition criteria that determine which products can display the badge.
The app and wider Better Health campaign supports families on their journey towards having a healthier diet, as making the step to the healthiest option may be too far for many people in one move.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funds a range of important research on obesity. This includes a project in the NIHR Obesity Policy Research Unit investigating how families in areas of low income experience food environments and another project investigating factors that drive parental decisions regarding food provision for infants across socio-economic position.
The Healthy Start Scheme supports eligible low-income families to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Recipients are also eligible for free Healthy start vitamins, boosting the long-term health of their children. The value of these vouchers was increased from £3.10 to £4.25 a week in April 2021, ensuring more families can have access to healthy and nourishing foods.
The Department for Education spend over £1 billion each year on free school meals. This includes around £600 million on Universal Infant Free School Meals, where the per meal rate has been increased to £2.41, backdated to April 2022 in recognition of recent cost pressures.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a percentage reduction target for ultra-processed food consumption levels.
Answered by Neil O'Brien
The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in fat, salt or sugar should be eaten less often or in small amounts.
UK Government dietary guidelines are based on recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish its initial assessment in the summer of 2023.
There is currently no universally agreed definition of ultra-processed foods. However, a diet high in foods classified as processed is often high in calories, salt, saturated fat and sugar and low in fibre, fruit and vegetables, which is associated with an increased risk of obesity and developing chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
The Good Choice badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner app and when shopping in store and online. The app helps families to see what is in their food and drinks and suggests healthier alternatives, where these exist, that can help them cut down on sugar, saturated fat and salt. The Good Choice badge is underpinned by nutrition criteria that determine which products can display the badge.
The app and wider Better Health campaign supports families on their journey towards having a healthier diet, as making the step to the healthiest option may be too far for many people in one move.
The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), funds a range of important research on obesity. This includes a project in the NIHR Obesity Policy Research Unit investigating how families in areas of low income experience food environments and another project investigating factors that drive parental decisions regarding food provision for infants across socio-economic position.
The Healthy Start Scheme supports eligible low-income families to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. Recipients are also eligible for free Healthy start vitamins, boosting the long-term health of their children. The value of these vouchers was increased from £3.10 to £4.25 a week in April 2021, ensuring more families can have access to healthy and nourishing foods.
The Department for Education spend over £1 billion each year on free school meals. This includes around £600 million on Universal Infant Free School Meals, where the per meal rate has been increased to £2.41, backdated to April 2022 in recognition of recent cost pressures.