Agenda item

The Panel received a presentation and covering report which provided an update on the implementation of the Healthy Weight Strategy 2022-2025 and progress on tackling unhealthy weight in childhood. The presentation was introduced by Linda Edward, Senior Commissioner Public Health and Benjamin Seifert, Public Health Officer as set out in the agenda pack at pages 17-46. Maria Ahmed, Public Health Officer was present for this item. Ann Graham, Corporate Director of Children’s Services was also present for this item along with Cllr Zena Brabazon, Cabinet Member for Children Families and Schools. The following arose as part of the discussion of this item:

a.    The Panel commented that listing the wards with children that were most unhealthy could lead to negative connotations and suggested that future reports should focus on characteristics rather than whole wards. In response, officer acknowledged this feedback and advised that there were trying to illustrate the areas that needed extra support.

b.    The Panel queried the impact that the introduction of free school meals had on healthy weights in children. In response, officers advised that no outcome change had been seen yet, but cautioned that they wouldn’t have expected to have seen a difference for a number of years yet, given that the children in the first cohort would need to get to Year 6 before any comparison could be made.

c.    The Panel queried the extent to which healthy weight was being captured in the Council’s licensing and planning policies and requested some examples of this. In response, officers advised that there was a team in the Council that worked to ensure that health was reflected in all policies across the Council. The team had been able to affect the new Local Plan for instance, including making amendments to allocations of fast food outlets in the borough. Officers acknowledged that licensing policy could be tricky as it was set by national government and that there was a ‘duty to permit’ in the legislation. It was also commented that the community impact policy had a very high evidence threshold. Officers also set out that part of the solution was to lobby for national change to things like labelling of food and nutrition standards.

d.    The Panel commented about the role played by ultra processed foods and the fact that less people cooked at home. The Panel also commented on the lack of affordable high quality/fresh food and the fact that unhealthy foods tended to be cheaper and more prevalent in deprived areas. The Panel also referred to cultural factors in relation to food and the fact that some traditional foods could be high in carbohydrates but not necessarily unhealthy. In response, officers acknowledged these comments and advised that BMI was a useful measure for looking at broad trends. However, officers set out that they were aware that it was not a perfect measure and that children’s weights could fluctuate. Officers provided assurances that they tried to be careful and measured in the language that was used in letters sent out to parents and carers.

e.    The Chair queried the provision of fresh fruit and vegetables at KS1 and whether there was a conversation to be had about rolling this out to younger children. The Chair commented that in her experience younger children tended to be more likely to eat what they were given. In response, officers commented that the [provision of free fresh fruit tended to be a school led approach, but that the general position was that it was available at KS1 but not KS2.

f.      The Chair queried whether it was known what proportion of children abstained from involvement in the healthy weight programme and whether this was more prevalent in certain parts of the borough. The Chair commented that in general, she found that the breakdown by wards to be useful in relation to the correlation with deprivation levels. In response, officers advised that they would come back with further information in writing. Officers commented that it tended to be schools rather than individuals that opted out and that currently there were currently two primary schools that had opted out. (Action: Benjamin Seifert).

g.    The Chair emphasised the importance of coproduction with young people and the fact that there was a significant fitness trend on social media. The Chair suggested that the Council should be doing more to utilise the general fitness trend among young people, including using older teenagers to influence younger children. In response, officers acknowledged that they would like to see more coproduction with young people. The Corporate Director highlighted the fact that there was also a Leisure Strategy and that this worked in tandem with the Healthy Weight Strategy. It was suggested that the links could be signposted more clearly in the Healthy Weight Strategy.

h.    The Panel requested that they receive an update on leisure provision for young people at a future meeting. (Action: Philip).

i.      The Chair welcomed the strategy and commended the aims behind it. However, the Chair raised concerns that for all of the good work that had been done, the numbers had not improved and the three year trend was essentially flat. The Chair sought assurances about what could be done to prevent a similar outcome happening in three years’ time. In response, officers from Public Health advised that they had been evaluating the figures as part of the review of the strategy and that it was recognised that that the figures had plateaued for not just the three years of the strategy, but over the last ten years. Officers set out that there was a recognition that there needed to be a more concerted effort to try and strengthen the partnership approach and to try to tackle the issue from a variety of different service areas and partners. Officers acknowledged that there was a significant space for lobbying and national legislative changes in relation to tackling unhealthy weight in childhood, given that this was a national/international issue.

j.      The Corporate Director cautioned that there was a degree of likelihood that the figures would not change significantly in three years’ time. It was suggested that many of the contributing factors were outside of Haringey’s direct control. Haringey could set the conditions, raise awareness and engage with young people and with schools, but that change needed to happen at the national level in order to improve the availability of healthy food.

k.     The Panel emphasised the potential impact on young people’s mental health from being considered overweight and stressed the importance of listening to young people themselves about what works for them. Officers acknowledged this and stressed the impact mental health could have on physical health.

RESOLVED

That the report was noted.