Local MP Slams Government's Commitment to Children's Health

6.35.54pm GMT Tue 1st Nov 2005

Government failed to back measures to improve child health

Annette Brooke, Liberal Democrat MP and Spokesperson for Children and Families today slammed the Government for letting down the public and many national organisations on the progress of the Children's Food Bill which was read in Parliament on Friday.

Over 260 MPs signed Early Day Motion 378 showing their support for the Children's Food Bill, a Private Members' Bill presented by the Labour MP for Wakefield Mary Creagh.

Expressing anger that the Bill was effectively 'talked out' of Parliamentary time, Annette Brooke said:

"I am appalled at the lack of Government support given to this Bill. Given the amount of publicity and interest the Bill generated, and the high profile that the Bill was given, I am very disappointed that the public, MPs and 150 national organisations were let down. With support from 40% of MPs in Parliament, it is a disgrace that the Minister was not prepared to at least allow the Bill its second reading.

"The Bill was effectively talked out of time, meaning that vitally important provisions for the health and future of our children will not reach the statute book in the near future.

"The Liberal Democrats were pleased to support the Children's Food Bill in its aims to stop the marketing of fatty, sugary and salty foods to children, and to equip all schoolchildren with cooking skills. The Government's proposals to improve school dinners, albeit underfunded, and to remove unhealthy foods from school vending machines are good news for children's health, but even more needs to be done to address increasing rates of childhood obesity, and to take tough action to address the nation's "diet time bomb"".

Speaking in the Commons, Annette Brooke said:

"Some of the proposals might appear rather illiberal but I believe that there is no choice but that the government make significant interventions to tackle poor nutrition. For too long we have allowed food marketing companies to influence our family diets. We must now empower our citizens to lead a healthy lifestyle. Action now is imperative and an obvious starting point is children."

On obesity, Annette Brooke said: "Studies suggest that more than 1 million children in the UK are obese. Obesity is linked to a wide range of serious illnesses which are storing up a huge National Health Service bill for the future."

On advertising, she said: "For every £1 spent promoting health eating, £500 is spent marketing unhealthy food, so the market has clearly failed."

Quoting evidence from a local study, Annette Brooke said: "I shall refer briefly to a study that was carried out in a school that I know that is in a relatively deprived area. Two thirds of its pupils were asked about food intake during the day. Their answers were alarming. Virtually all the children were eating and drinking highly processed food that is high in sugar and fat—if they ate and drank anything at all. Most students admitted drinking relatively little during the day, often only fizzy drinks, which puts them at risk of spending much of the day significantly dehydrated.

The teacher responsible for the study made a pertinent comment. She said:

"What is the point of spending a fortune on key stage 3 secondary strategies when so many kids are just not capable of learning as their brains are not functioning? It is like trying to fine tune the engine of a car that has got the wrong fuel in it."

The teacher also pointed out:

"Jamie Oliver's campaign is not affecting our students—they will run offsite to the chip shop or bring their junk food in with them, despite having a canteen with healthy options."

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

The Bill, which has support from 150 national organisations including many prominent medical, health and consumer organisations, professional associations and children's charities, sought to introduce a range of statutory measures to improve children's diets and future health, recognising that touch action is necessary to address a number of factors, including marketing to children of foods containing high levels of fat, sugar and salt, the poor composition of foods on sale in schools, the lack of practical cooking skills in the national curriculum and insufficient promotion to children of healthy foods.

EDM 378

CHILDREN'S FOOD

Creagh, Mary

That this House believes that, while the Government has introduced some measures to improve school meals, the crisis in children's diet-related health remains; notes that data from the Health Survey for England shows that between 1995 and 2003, the prevalence of obesity among children under 11 years rose from 9.9 per cent. to 13.7 per cent; welcomes the British Medical Association's report calling for tough action to tackle this alarming increase; recognises that in order to defuse the Food Standard Agency's `diet time bomb', additional measures are needed to address a number of factors, including marketing to children of foods containing high levels of fat, sugar and salt, the poor composition of foods on sale in schools, the lack of practical cooking skills in the national curriculum and insufficient promotion to children of healthy foods; and therefore supports in principle the provisions under the Children's Food Bill, introduced in the last Parliament and supported by 248 honourable Members and 137 national organisations, which seek a range of statutory measures to improve children's diets and future health.

 The EDM was supported by 262 MPs out of a total of 642 MPs - 40% of all MPs. 45% of Labour MPs, 82% of Liberal Democrat MPs and 17% of Conservative MPs.

 The Government's intention to introduce minimum nutrient standards for school meals and to remove junk foods from school vending machines was announced by Ruth Kelly at the Labour Party conference on Wednesday 28th September.