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Councillors and committees

Agenda item

OSC Review of Obesity (across the life course) - Evidence Gathering

Report of the Director of Public Health

Minutes:

The Committee received the evidence gathering report as part of the OSC’s review into the Review of Healthy Weight (across the life course).

 

The scoping report agreed by OSC on 14 June 2017 described the complexity of the obesity agenda and that:

 

·         The evidence base suggests that in order to tackle obesity effectively an approach that involves the whole system is needed.

·         Consideration of factors influencing the healthy weight agenda that can be tackled by joint working across a number of areas need to be part of the solution, the local authority is uniquely positioned to take this forward.

·         Successfully tackling obesity is a long term, large scale commitment. The current prevalence of obesity in the population has been at least 30 years in the making. This will take time to reverse and it is reported that it will be at least 30 years before reductions in the associated diseases are seen.

·         The evidence is very clear that policies aimed solely at individuals will be inadequate and will not suffice to reverse this trend. Significant effective action to prevent obesity at a population level is required.

·         Indentfying opportunities to disrupt the current system, which involves identifying the most likely and productive areas of activity in the local system where Gateshead Council and its partners can take action.


The Committee received a presentation from Beverly Oliver, Health and Wellbeing Programme Lead, Public Health England which outlined the national context and provided the Committee with an update of key actions from the recently published ‘second chapter of the childhood obesity plan’ (including a focus on sugar reduction, advertising and promotion and energy drinks etc). The implications of the plan for local authority areas, including high impact areas for focus were also outlined.

 

The presentation also provided an update from a national perspective on the learning that is emerging from the whole system LA pilot sites. What emergent learning can be transferred from local practices and tired and tested methods as part of the pilot. What can Gateshead take forward from this approach. The next steps of the programme of work was also outlined and an outline of new and emergent work at a national level to inform future practice in Gateshead.

 

The Committee also received a presentation from Emma Gibson, Programme Lead in Public Health, Gateshead Council which outlines an update of actions and progress in terms of the healthy weight agenda in Gateshead and the implications in terms of the national perspective.

 

The Committee considered the following:

 

·         Childhood Obesity: a plan for action chapter 2 outlines the actions the Government will take towards its goal of halving childhood obesity and reducing the gap in obesity between children from the most and least deprived areas by 2030. The plan aims to be ambitious in the actions outlined.

·         The whole systems approach to obesity was introduced to help local authorities deliver co-ordinated actions involving partners across the system. This is an emerging programme of work and is being led by the Local Government Association (LGA) and Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH) to develop the programme.

 

 The Committee were advised that for children in particular:

 

·         Obesity rates are highest for children from the most deprived areas. Children aged 5 and from the poorest income groups are twice as likely to be obese compared to their most well-off counterparts and by the age of 11 they are three times as likely.

·         In the UK, one in 10 children start school obese, this is enough to fill London’s Olympic Stadium four times over.

·         Of those children who are obese at preschool age, research suggests that between 26% and 41% will go on to be obese in adulthood.

·         Studies have shown that a child with at least one obese parent is more likely to be obese themselves in adulthood.

·         By the time children reach Year 6, Gateshead has one of the highest rates of excess weight levels in the North East (36.8%). This compares to a national rate of 32.3% and a regional rate of 27.5%

·         The Year 6 for children obesity prevalence, this is highest in London (23.15%), North East (22.8%) and the West Midlands (22.5%)

 

RESOLVED -

i)

That the information be noted

 

ii)

The Committee noted the approach and content of the review as set out in the report and presentation

 

iii)

The Committee requested that in future full written reports rather than bullet points be provided.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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