Obesity
Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives : A Cross-Government Strategy for England (January 2008)
The UK has seen dramatic increases in childhood obesity in recent years. Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England - a new £372 million strategy to help everyone lead healthier lives - was published on 23 January by Alan Johnson, Health Secretary, and Ed Balls the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. A groundbreaking Government strategy, it supports the creation of a healthy society - from early years, to schools and food, from sport and physical activity to planning, transport and the health service.
The Government has set itself a new ambition: of being the first major country to reverse the rising tide of obesity and overweight in the population by ensuring that all individuals are able to maintain a healthy weight. Our initial focus on children: by 2020 we will have reduced the proportion of overweight and obese children to 2000 levels, is reflected in the new PSA12 : Improve the health and well-being of children and young people, announced in September 2007. This target will be supported by a programme of action to help children and their families have healthy lifestyles.
The following cross-government schemes and initiatives contribute to reducing childhood obesity:
-
Healthy
Schools programme
-
Food
in Schools programme (information on TeacherNet)
-
School
Fruit and Vegetable scheme (information on the DH website)
- Physical Education, School Sport and Club Links programme (information on TeacherNet)
Reducing obesity is also one of the six overarching priorities in the public health white paper Choosing Health.
National Child Measurement Programme
The National Child Measurement Programme is a key part of the Government's work to tackle obesity. The programme aims to record the height and weight of all children in Reception Year and Year 6. This data will help PCTs plan services to support schools and target resources more effectively; it also provides vital data to analyse trends at national and local levels.
For more information about the programme, please go to the Department of Health website where you will find the following resources:
- guidance for PCTs
- guidance for schools
- legislative changes
- a parent's leaflet
- and more...
Further guidance
Full details of the cross-government health strategy, Healthy Weight:Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England, published on 23 January 2008, is available on the Department of Health website.
The DH has also published guidance on childhood obesity for parents, Why Your Child's Weight Matters, which you can download from the DH website.
For further information on obesity in children in their early years, you can read the revised Sure Start Practice Guidance and Performance Management Guidance on the Sure Start website.
To read the latest about what is happening in schools visit the TeacherNet website.
This page was last updated on 29 January 2008
