Agenda item

Tom Stansfield, Health Improvement Advanced Practitioner- Policy Officer, gave an in-depth presentation on obesity in children.

Barking and Dagenham had among the highest rates of overweight and obesity in reception and year 6 children in London. In order to reverse this system wide action, taking into account the work of the council, NHS and voluntary and private sectors, was required.

The Health Scrutiny Committee (HSC) had requested a review of system-wide action on childhood obesity. The aim of the review would be to bring together all the available information to date and make recommendations to tackle the obesity problem from a system-wide approach.

The Committee were advised that the requested review was timely as Public Health England and the Local Government Association had been working on developing guidance for a whole systems approach to obesity since 2015. The programme placed considerable emphasis on creating the right environment for change in the local area, collaborative working across the local system and the dynamic nature of such a system.

To assist the Committee in their review, the officer advised that the council were currently engaged in several initiatives to tackle childhood obesity which included:

Ø  The application of fast food exclusion zones of 400M around schools.

Ø  The implementation of the Healthy Pupil’s Capital Fund (the soft drinks sugar levy).

Ø  Street Tag – a fun and interactive game designed to get people walking more.

Ø  A recently completed piece of work into behaviour change and attitudes to weight management, which will influence how we develop future obesity prevention and support programmes in the borough.

Ø  Healthy living promotion is a key requirement of our commissioned children’s 0-19 services, including the taking part in the National Childhood Measurement Programme.

Ø  A fully subsidised year-round holiday activity programme for children and young people aged 5 – 11years. This works in partnership with local clubs and organisations to deliver a range of inclusive cultural, sport, health and fitness activities.

The Council had also commissioned a structured programme for children and their families with a high BMI, that consisted of healthy eating education and support, plus exercise. The courses were borough-wide and delivered in schools and community venues.  The programme underwent a re-launch earlier in the year and was now called ‘The LEAN Beans Club’. It was designed to be fun, engaging and interactive.

The following terms of reference and work programme were then proposed to the Committee for the scrutiny review: 

Terms of Reference

1.  Are the identified outcomes from the Healthy Weight Strategy, the right ones to focus on?

2.    What is happening locally already to tackle obesity?

3.  What are the evidence-based interventions which will have most impact?

4.  What could we and should we be working together on in order to address gaps in the system and become more effective in making a difference at scale and pace?

Work Programme

11 September 2018

Presentation of draft scoping report & visual presentation of the issue to HSC meeting

September

Healthy New Towns workshop

Provide the Health Scrutiny Committee with a chance to understand how Barking Riverside Healthy New Town provides opportunities for the whole systems approach to obesity, and how this might inform their recommendations.

October

Stakeholder workshop

An opportunity for members of the Health Scrutiny Committee to hear the views and recommendations of stakeholders in childhood obesity such as BeFirst, Education and the Voluntary Sector.

This will include action planning for stakeholders to feedback the views and opinions from the respective communities and sectors that they are involved with.

October

Q&A with Healthcare Representatives

Provide members of the Health Scrutiny Committee with the opportunity to question NHS representatives on their work to reduce the burden of obesity, their plans and the best evidence around taking a whole systems approach.

November

Councillor visit to ‘Lean Beans’ programme

Provide members of the Health Scrutiny Committee with an opportunity to visit the current programme for children and families around exercise and nutrition. Including opportunities to speak to residents taking part and people running the sessions.

18 December 2018

HSC meeting - Draft report and recommendations

25 March 2018

HSC meeting – presentation of final report

The Health Scrutiny Committee discussed the proposal in detail and resolved to agree the proposed terms of scope and work plan for the Scrutiny Review.