Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 reduce the impact of obesity on (a) people's health and wellbeing and (b) the NHS.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
Actions include restricting the advertising of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products being shown on TV and online, restricting promotions of HFSS products by location and price, calorie labelling in restaurants, expanding weight management services and making conversations about weight in primary care the norm.
In July 2020, Public Health England launched the Better Health Campaign which promotes evidence-based tools and advice to help people look after their mental and physical health. The campaign shows adults the simple steps they can take to eat more healthily, increase their physical activity, care for their mental wellbeing and quit smoking. Change4Life and Start4Life programmes support families to eat well and move more with resources to motivate and encourage behaviour change including simple healthy eating messages, recipes and more.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of applying minimum pricing to (a) alcohol, (b) sugar and (c) other products in the food and beverage sector.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
No assessment has been made on minimum pricing for food or drink, but the Government is committed to tackling obesity.
The DHSC launched ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020. The strategy demonstrates an overarching, holistic campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against Covid-19 and protect the NHS.
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 he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of obesity among (a) children and (b) adults in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England; and what steps his Department is taking to tackle obesity in those areas.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has been no such assessment because there is no data covering obesity trends during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Health Survey England (HSE) fieldwork was suspended in March 2020. Previously the HSE found approximately a third of adults were classified as obese in surveys over the last 20 years, and before then (1993 – 2000) obesity levels had increased.
We published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
As part of delivering the strategy, on 23 March the Government announced it was dedicating £34.9 million of funding to support the expansion of local authority weight management services for adults, children, and families in 2021/22. As part of this, Coventry City Council has been allocated £331,229 and local authorities in the West Midlands a combined total of £3,968,705 from the Adult Weight Management Services Grant. All local authorities were also invited to submit an expression of interest for funding from a second grant to test the expansion of behavioural weight management services for children and families and pilot an intervention to improve access to local services for children identified as overweight or obese through the national child measurement programme. Successful applicants will be announced shortly.
Asked by: Zarah Sultana (Labour - Coventry South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government’s Tackling Obesity Strategy will tackle poverty as an underlying cause of obesity.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, taking forward actions from previous chapters of the Childhood Obesity Plan. This includes our ambition to halve childhood obesity and significantly reduce the gap in obesity between children from the most and least deprived areas by 2030 and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, prevention against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
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 (a) help tackle obesity and (b) encourage people to live healthier lives.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
In July 2020, Public Health England launched the Better Health Campaign which promotes evidence-based tools and advice to help people look after their mental and physical health. The campaign shows adults the simple steps they can take to eat more healthily, increase their physical activity, care for their mental wellbeing and quit smoking. Change4Life and Start4Life programmes support families to eat well and move more with resources to motivate and encourage behaviour change including simple healthy eating messages, recipes and more.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the closure of wraparound childcare providers on childhood obesity.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The government recognises the vital role wraparound childcare plays in providing enriching activities which provide such an enormous benefit to the health and wellbeing of children. That is why we have ensured that all before and after-school clubs, holiday clubs, and other out-of-school settings have been able to continue to stay open for children eligible to attend school on-site (i.e. for critical worker children, and vulnerable children and young people), for the duration of the national lockdown, in line with the protective measures guidance for the sector which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
We have also made clear that schools should be continuing to offer before and after-school provision for those pupils eligible to attend for on-site provision, where it is feasible for them to do so. We have provided guidance for schools to support them to resume this provision. A copy of the guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
The department does not hold a central register of all wraparound provision and is therefore not able to give an assessment on the potential effects to childhood obesity due to the closure of wraparound childcare providers. We do, however, recognise the value this sector offers to our children and young people, as well as the valuable support they provide to our critical worker parents, and vulnerable children. That is why we have encouraged all local authorities to consider what local grants could be used to bolster this part of the childcare sector in their areas, to safeguard sufficient childcare provision for children of critical workers and vulnerable children. This includes funding streams such as the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. The expanded programme, which comprises a £220 million fund to be delivered through grants to local authorities, will be expanded to reach all local authority areas over the Easter, summer, and Christmas holidays in 2021.
Although there has been no official assessment made around the effects wraparound closures has on levels of children’s physical activity, the government is acutely aware of the benefits to children’s physical and mental wellbeing of attending these settings. The Department of Health and Social Care published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July 2020, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tackling-obesity-government-strategy/tackling-obesity-empowering-adults-and-children-to-live-healthier-lives?dm_i=21A8,6YUMT,1HTV5R,S1TJS,1.
The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan, including our ambition to halve the number of children living with obesity by 2030, and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the NHS.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 assess the effect of covid-19 on patients living with (a) obesity and (b) other long term health conditions; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is consistent evidence that people who are overweight or living with obesity who contract COVID-19 are more likely to be admitted to hospital, admitted to an intensive care unit and to die from COVID-19 compared to those of a healthy body weight status. We published ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ in July. Our strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
There has been no specific assessment of COVID-19 and long-term conditions. Many organisations have produced advice for people to manage their condition during the pandemic, and NHS England and NHS Improvement have supported efforts in this area.
Asked by: Alex Norris (Labour (Co-op) - Nottingham North)
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 (a) support the aims of the obesity strategy and (b) ensure that local authorities have sufficient (i) funding and (ii) resources to deliver obesity prevention initiatives.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’ demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets out measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
We have invested £3.279 billion in local authority public health services through the Public Health Grant in 2020/21, in addition to what the NHS spent on preventative interventions such as our world-class immunisation and screening programmes.
Asked by: Lord Judd (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to propose urgent action nationwide to combat childhood obesity.
Answered by Lord Bethell
We published Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives in July. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan, including our ambition to halve the number of children living with obesity by 2030, and sets our measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the National Health Service.
In addition, Public Health England launched the Better Health campaign, which calls on people to embrace a healthier lifestyle and to lose weight if they need to, supported by a range of evidence-based tools and apps providing advice on how to reduce the waistline.
A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of obesity in the UK; and what steps they are taking following that assessment.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Obesity rates are far too high which represents a huge cost to the health and wellbeing of the individual, the National Health Service and the wider economy.
We published Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives in July. The strategy demonstrates an overarching campaign to reduce obesity, takes forward actions from previous chapters of the childhood obesity plan and sets our measures to get the nation fit and healthy, protect against COVID-19 and protect the NHS.
In addition, Public Health England launched the Better Health campaign, which calls on people to embrace a healthier lifestyle and to lose weight if they need to, supported by a range of evidence-based tools and apps providing advice on how to reduce the waistline.
A copy of Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives is attached.