Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they made of the prevalence of the Beta variant of COVID-19 in (1) mainland France, and (2) French overseas territories, when deciding to require British citizens to quarantine when returning to the UK from France.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of countries and territories. This risk is based on factors such as the level of community transmission of variants of concern or variant under investigation, levels of testing, genomic sequencing and reporting. The JBC assessed that France is a high-risk COVID-19 destination due to the circulation of variants of concern, most notably the beta variant, which is the variant that presents the greatest risk for vaccine escape. As of 19 July, GISAID data shows there have been to date 2,959 cases of beta in France (5.2% of all cases uploaded) compared to 1,052 cases of beta in the United Kingdom (0.2% of all cases uploaded), 44 cases in Greece (0.5% of all cases uploaded) and 621 cases in Spain (1.4% of all cases uploaded), from the start of the pandemic. GISAID is a live repository and the number of sequences attributed to a specific lineage, country or region may be revised upwards or downwards as new lineages are identified and countries update and amend their data. The quarantine rules and testing for travellers into the United Kingdom from France will significantly decrease the risk of importing beta cases, which could then grow rapidly into community clusters or outbreaks.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what comparison they have made of the percentage of women breastfeeding their babies at six months (1) currently, (2) 10 years ago, and (3) 20 years ago.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Breastfeeding at six months has been measured through the Infant Feeding Survey United Kingdom, which last ran in 2010. The results were published in 2012 and reported the breastfeeding prevalence for the UK outlined in the following table.
Breastfeeding prevalence for babies aged six months in 2000, 2005 and 2010 in the UK:
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 |
Exclusively breastfed | Less than 1% | Less than 1% | 1% |
At all breastfed | 21% | 25% | 34% |
Notes:
The UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Data published in the Lancet shows that 0.5% of babies in the UK are being breastfed up to one year compared with 23% in Germany, 56% in Brazil and 99% in Senegal. A copy of the Lancet article, Breastfeeding in the 21st Century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect, is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of World Health Organisation guidance that breastfeeding a baby for two years has health benefits that last into adulthood.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is reviewing the scientific basis of current recommendations for feeding young children aged 12 to 60 months. Where evidence is available, this will cover the impact of continued breastfeeding up to two years of age or beyond as recommended by the World Health Organization on short and long-term health outcomes into adulthood.
In July 2018, the SACN published its report on Feeding in the First Year of Life, providing updated recommendations on infant feeding up to 12 months of age in the United Kingdom. Based on SACN’s advice, the UK Government recommends that women exclusively breastfeed for around the first six months of life and continue breastfeeding for at least the first year of life once solid foods have been introduced. A copy of Feeding in the First Year of Life is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what comparison they have made of the difference in breastfeeding rates between the UK and other countries.
Answered by Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford
Breastfeeding at six months has been measured through the Infant Feeding Survey United Kingdom, which last ran in 2010. The results were published in 2012 and reported the breastfeeding prevalence for the UK outlined in the following table.
Breastfeeding prevalence for babies aged six months in 2000, 2005 and 2010 in the UK:
| 2000 | 2005 | 2010 |
Exclusively breastfed | Less than 1% | Less than 1% | 1% |
At all breastfed | 21% | 25% | 34% |
Notes:
The UK has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. Data published in the Lancet shows that 0.5% of babies in the UK are being breastfed up to one year compared with 23% in Germany, 56% in Brazil and 99% in Senegal. A copy of the Lancet article, Breastfeeding in the 21st Century: epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect, is attached.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications of a poor maternal diet in pregnancy for the life chances of babies, in the light of research conducted in the last decade.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The most recent assessment of the influence of poor maternal diet on later health consequences, including the risk of chronic disease in adulthood, was carried out for government by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) in 2011.
Taking into account the international evidence base and the findings from the United Kingdom National Diet and Nutrition Surveys showing that women of childbearing age are not meeting dietary recommendations, SACN concluded that there is cause for concern. It advised that improving the nutritional status of women of childbearing age, infants and young children, has the potential to improve the health of future generations.
Current dietary advice to women of reproductive age, those planning a pregnancy and those who are pregnant, is promoted via the NHS Choices website as well as the government’s social marketing campaigns, such as Start4Life.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further steps they plan to take to improve the diet of pregnant women and new mothers.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
Parents receive health and lifestyle advice, including advice on diet, weight control and physical activity, from their health visitor as part of the Healthy Child Programme.
For parents, the Government provides online advice on maternal nutrition via the NHS Choices website and the Start4Life website.
The Your Pregnancy and Baby guide on NHS Choices includes information about a healthy diet in pregnancy. Start4Life produce a range of information booklets with advice for parents, including Healthy Habits for Baby and You which provides information and advice on eating healthily and exercise in pregnancy.
The Government’s statutory Healthy Start scheme aims to provide a nutritional safety net to the most nutritionally vulnerable pregnant women, new mothers and children under four years old in low income families. The scheme provides vouchers for basic healthy foods (milk, fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables) and infant formula milk. This encourages healthy eating the scheme covers approximately half a million pregnant women, new mothers, and children under four years old in low income families throughout the United Kingdom.
We currently have no plans to extend the current dietary advice given to pregnant women and new mothers.
Asked by: Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many pregnant women, new mothers, and children under four have applied to the Healthy Start scheme in each year since that scheme started.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
The specific information requested is not available as the Healthy Start Issuing Unit records numbers of applications, rather than numbers of individuals claiming, and an individual or family can make more than one claim for Healthy Start within a year.
The following table outlines the number of applications received each year since the scheme was started and is made up of the number of claims/applications per year.
The Healthy Start Scheme initially started in Devon and Cornwall and was rolled out United Kingdom-wide in November 2006.
Financial Year | Number of applications/claims | |
2005-06 | 2,445 | Healthy Start Scheme introduced initially in Devon and Cornwall |
2006-07 | 104,920 | Extended United Kingdom wide in November 2006 |
2007-08 | 197,388 | |
2008-09 | 298,077 | |
2009-10 | 338,113 | |
2010-11 | 316,711 | |
2011-12 | 320,043 | |
2012-13 | 316,277 | |
2013-14 | 271,244 | |
2014-15 | 226,805 | |
2015-16 (Up to 15 November) | 132,633 |