Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle childhood obesity; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits introducing measures to improve access to affordable, nutritious food options.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The prevention of ill health is a clear priority for the Government, and a cornerstone of this is supporting children to live healthier lives. Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment.
We have already laid secondary legislation to restrict advertisements of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online, we have announced changes to the planning framework for fast food near schools, and we are taking steps to ensure the Soft Drinks Industry Levy remains effective and fit-for-purpose. In addition, initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme, free school meals, and the holiday activities and food programme provide access to affordable, nutritious food options.
The Healthy Start scheme, introduced in 2006, encourages a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. Pregnant women and families with children aged over one and under four years old each receive £4.25 every week, and families with children under one years old each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, or tinned pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins.
Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. In addition, all children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals. The holiday activities and food programme provides free childcare places, enriching activities, and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing, and learning throughout the school holidays.
We are also working collaboratively across the Government to deliver a resilient food system that promotes health and food security. The Food Strategy will work to provide healthier, more easily accessible food to help people live longer, healthier lives.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) tackle, (b) prevent and (c) monitor child poverty in the form of malnutrition.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most cases of malnutrition are clinical and will be secondary to another health condition which may impact on nutritional needs or impact on a person’s ability to eat and drink, rather than it solely being caused by poor or inadequate dietary intake. The term malnutrition is sometimes incorrectly used to refer to a poor diet; although this may put someone at increased risk of malnutrition, this would not necessarily meet the criteria for a clinical diagnosis.
The National Health Service provides Hospital Episode Statistics figures for malnutrition, broken down by age group, for the period 2007/08 to 2020/21, which are available at the following link:
The relationship between food poverty or food insecurity, nutritional intake and health in the United Kingdom is currently unclear. However, international evidence suggests that in the long-term, food insecurity may be associated with poorer diets and poorer health, including higher risk of overweight and obesity. The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs’ UK Food Security Report 2024, which pulls together data from a range of sources including the Department of Work and Pensions Family Resources Survey, found that 90% of UK households were food secure in the financial year ending 2023. The report is available at the following link:
The Government is rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, with an early adopter scheme launching in April 2025, so children start the day ready to learn, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and confront child poverty. Additionally, all children in Reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded schools are already entitled to universal infant free school meals and disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as students aged between 16 and 18 years old in further education, receive free meals based on low income.
The existing Healthy Start scheme aims to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies and young children under four from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and infant formula; beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins. The Child Poverty Taskforce, made up of ministers from across Government, will be publishing its strategy to reduce child poverty in spring 2025.
Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the level of obesity in the (a) richest and (b) poorest areas of Ilford South constituency; and if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the impact of poverty on obesity.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data is not available in the format requested. Prevalence of obesity for children aged four to five years old and 10 to 11 years old is available from the National Child Measurement Programme. The Department publish breakdowns of obesity prevalence by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile at a local authority level. Information is not available for Ilford South, but it is available for the London Borough of Redbridge, which includes Ilford South. The following table shows the obesity prevalence by IMD quintile and school year for the London Borough of Redbridge:
IMD quintile | Obesity prevalence for children in Reception, aged four to five years old | Obesity prevalence for children in Year 6, aged 10 to 11 years old |
Most deprived quintile 1 | 15.4% | 30.6% |
2 | 12.1% | 28.9% |
3 | 10.8% | 26.2% |
4 | 8.1% | 23.1% |
Least deprived quintile 5 | 5.4% | 17.4% |
Source: National Child Measurement Programme, five years of data combined for academic years ending 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024.
The prevalence of obesity in adults by local authority or parliamentary constituency and deprivation is not available.
Poverty is wide determinant of health. Although poverty is not a direct cause of specific health conditions, poverty can be a risk factor for malnutrition, obesity, ill mental health, and tooth decay. The Department is working closely with the Child Poverty Taskforce to develop and deliver an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty, tackle the root causes, and give every child the best start in life. An important part of this will be alleviating the negative experiences of living in poverty through supporting families and enhancing public services.
Under the Health Mission, the Government is committed to prevention and to tackling obesity, creating a fairer, healthier food environment. This will contribute to the mission goals of fewer lives lost to the biggest killers and a fairer Britain where everyone lives well for longer.
The Government has already laid secondary legislation to restrict the advertisement of less healthy food and drink to children on television and online from 1 October 2025, announced changes to the planning framework for fast food outlets near schools, and is committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to under-16 year olds.
Existing initiatives such as the Healthy Start scheme, introduced in 2006, encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. Pregnant women and families with children aged over one years old and under four years old each receive £4.25 every week, and families with children under one years old each receive £8.50 every week. Healthy Start can be used to buy, or be put towards the cost of, fresh, frozen or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried and tinned pulses, milk and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins.
Disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, are entitled to receive free meals on the basis of low income. In addition, all children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England's state-funded schools are entitled to universal infant free school meals. The Government also supports families through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides free childcare places, enriching activities, and healthy meals to children from low-income families, benefiting their health, wellbeing, and learning throughout the school holidays.
At a local level, officials in the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities’ regional teams work closely with local partners, including local authorities and the National Health Service, to support them with local initiatives to promote a healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity. All of our polices and their impacts are kept under review.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has plans to take steps to help lower the price of healthy food.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Steps to improve the affordability, availability, and accessibility of healthy foods are being considered as part of both the Child Poverty Strategy, due to be published in spring, as well as the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs-led Food Strategy, for which further updates will be released in due course.
The Government is committed to increasing access to healthy foods for vulnerable populations by rolling out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools. This also supports free school meals, where under current programmes, 2.1 million of the most disadvantaged school pupils are registered to receive benefits-related free school meals, and a further 90,000 students in further education receive free lunches on the basis of low family income. Also, approximately 1.3 million infant pupils in reception, year one and year two, receive free lunches as part of the universal infant free school meals policy.
We also have schemes to support those on low incomes such as Healthy Start, which reached over 354,000 vulnerable people in December 2024. Healthy Start supports a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households by providing vouchers for fresh, frozen, or tinned fruit and vegetables, fresh, dried, and tinned pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start vitamins for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and children aged under four years old.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to ensure that Bovaer is not used within the school supply chain.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Food Standards Agency has advised milk from cows given Bovaer, an authorised feed additive that is used to reduce methane emissions, is safe to drink. Bovaer has undergone a rigorous safety assessment and is approved for use in Great Britain.
The School Food Standards defines the foods and drinks that must be provided, those which are restricted, and those which must not be provided. Beyond this, schools are responsible for the provision of school meals and how they source their food.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 with Cabinet colleagues to help encourage people to have healthy diets.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Supporting people to stay healthier for longer is at the heart of this government’s Health Mission. Government advice on a healthy, balanced diet is encapsulated in the United Kingdom’s national food model, the Eatwell Guide. The Eatwell Guide depicts a healthy, balanced diet that is based on fruit, vegetables and higher fibre starchy carbohydrates. The Eatwell Guide principles are promoted through the NHS.uk website and the Government’s social marketing campaign, Better Health, including Healthier Families and Start for Life. The guide is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide
The Healthy Start scheme was introduced in 2006 to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula. Healthy Start beneficiaries have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins for pregnant women and children aged under four. In October 2024, Healthy Start supported over 353,000 beneficiaries; this figure is higher than the previous paper voucher scheme.
The School Fruit and Vegetable scheme provides children in Key Stage 1 at state-funded primary schools with a free portion of fruit or vegetable every school day, to help to encourage healthier eating.
The Government is also committed to implementing the advertising restrictions for less healthy food and drink on TV and online, bringing forward the necessary secondary legislation to deliver our commitment to ban the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under 16 years old, and limiting school children’s access to fast food. Further action under the Government’s Health Mission will be set out in due course.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will amend regulations on school meals so that there is no obligation to serve animal-derived foods.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
It is important that children eat nutritious food at school and the department encourages schools to have a whole school approach to healthy eating. The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at lunchtime and at other times of the school day. Compliance with the School Food Standards is mandatory for maintained schools, academies and free schools.
Under the School Food Standards, meat must be served on three or more days each week and a portion of oily fish once every three weeks. Beyond this, the department believes that head teachers, school governors and caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies, considering local circumstances and the needs of their pupils. As such, notwithstanding the requirements around meat and oily fish, schools may provide a meal with any other type of protein every day if they choose to.
Although schools are required to make milk available, the School Food Standards also enable schools to provide a variety of other drinks including plain soya, rice or oat drinks enriched with calcium and combination and flavoured variations of these drinks, to suit particular medical, dietary and cultural needs.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
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 potential link between poor (a) mental health and (b) access to nutritious food.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Whilst there has been no direct assessment of a potential link, the relationship between food security, nutritional intake and physical and mental health in the United Kingdom is currently unclear. However, international data suggests that in the long-term, food insecurity may be associated with poorer diets and poorer mental and physical health.
UK dietary recommendations are based on advice from the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN’s risk assessments consider a broad range of health outcomes, including mental health where evidence is available.
Working together as a mission led Government, we will move from a model of sickness to one of prevention, reducing health inequality and closing the gap in healthy life expectancy, as well as delivering on our commitment to raise the healthiest next generation. As part of this we are working with civil society, industry and the public to address some of the biggest drivers of ill-health and health inequalities, including tackling poor diet.
To help break down barriers to opportunity and confront child poverty we are rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, with an early adopter scheme launching in April 2025. All children in Reception, year 1 and year 2 in England's state-funded schools are already entitled to universal infant free school meals and disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as students aged between 16 and 18 years old in further education, receive free meals on the basis of low income.
In addition, our Healthy Food Schemes already provide support for those who need it the most. The Healthy Start scheme aims to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies and young children under four from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk and infant formula; beneficiaries also have access to free Healthy Start Vitamins.
Asked by: Chris Hinchliff (Labour - North East Hertfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to review the provisions for dairy free options for children with dairy (a) allergies and (b) intolerances in the school milk subsidy scheme.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
This is a devolved matter, and I am answering with responsibility for the school milk scheme in England.
Only milk and relevant dairy products are currently eligible for subsidy in the school milk scheme and there are no plans to subsidise dairy-free beverages.
The Government recognises that some children with clinical and dietary needs are unable to consume milk and expects schools to make reasonable adjustments for those with particular needs. The School Food Standards require milk to be available, but also enable schools in England to provide a variety of other products to meet pupils’ particular dietary needs. Further information is available on gov.uk at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-food-standards-resources-for-schools
A joint working group of the Committee on Toxicity and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition was established in Autumn 2021 to conduct a risk-benefit- analysis considering both nutritional and toxicological aspects associated with the consumption of plant-based drinks by the UK population. This work is ongoing, and the Government will continue to monitor developments. These committees separately provide advice on food safety and nutrition issues to the UK Governments.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
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 reduce inequalities in dietary health.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
Under our Health Mission we will move from a model of sickness to one of prevention, reducing health inequalities and closing the gap in healthy life expectancy, as well as delivering on our commitment to raise the healthiest generation ever. As part of this we are working with civil society, industry, and the public to address some of the biggest drivers of ill-health and health inequalities, including tackling obesity and poor diet, as obesity prevalence for children in deprived areas is double that of non-deprived areas.
To this end, we are rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school, with an early adopter scheme launching in April 2025, so children start the day ready to learn, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and confront child poverty. All children in Reception, Year 1, and Year 2 in England’s state-funded schools are already entitled to universal infant free school meals, and disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools, as well as 16 to 18-year-old students in further education, receive free meals on the basis of low income.
In addition, our Healthy Food Schemes already provide support for those who need it the most. The Healthy Start scheme aims to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies, and young children under four years old from very low-income households. It can be used to buy, or put towards the cost of, fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, and infant formula, with beneficiaries also having access to free Healthy Start Vitamins.
We have also committed to banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under the age of 16 years old, where we know average intakes of these drinks is highest among children from more deprived areas. Additionally, we are on track to ban junk food advertising to children from next year.