Sharon Egan presentation

1. Sharon Egan
Public Health, Responsibility
Deal Policy Lead,
Department of Health

2. Obesity: Tipping Back the Scales of the Nation Event
19th April 2017
The Childhood Obesity Plan: Prevention
and Early Intervention
Sharon Egan
Childhood Obesity Programme
Department of Health

3. Obesity affects too many of our children
We are becoming obese
EARLIER
and staying obese for
LONGER

4. Prevalence of excess weight among
children
4
Child overweight (including obesity)/ excess weight: BMI ≥ 85th centile of the UK90 growth reference
One in five children in Reception is
overweight or obese
One in three children in Year 6 is
overweight or obese
25.0%
24.2%
22.7%
21.2%
19.3%
17.8%
16.0%
15.0%
13.7%
11.5%12.0%
11.2%
10.3% 9.7%
9.0%
8.3% 7.6% 7.0% 6.8%
5.7%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Most
deprived
Least
deprived
Obesityprevalence
Index of Multiple Deprivation 2010 decile
Year 6
Reception
Scale of the challenge
Obesity prevalence by
deprivation decile

5. Source: IPSOS MORI
A problem, but not my problem?

8. Tackling such a complex issue
8

10. Breaking the cycle of obesity
©2014 by American Physiological Society

11. The policy challenge
• Epigenetics
• Gut microbiota
• Packaging
and Portion
size
• Technological
development
• Family and
friends
• Social networks

12. Being overweight is ‘normal’

13. We eat much more than
we think….
Source: Behavioral Insights
Team 2016
…we snack more too
Our food environment influences what and how much we eat

14. Children’s sugar consumption

15. We lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles
• Less than a quarter of children aged 5-15 are achieving recommended
amounts of physical activity per day.
• Physical activity levels have decreased over the last decade.
• However, increasing the amount of exercise children do is not the silver
bullet – a 34kg 8-10 year old would need to run for 45 mins to burn off a
500ml bottle of sugary fizzy drink.

16. A World-Leading Plan
• Published August 2016
• Set of over 20 ambitious
actions, focusing on:
– Schools
– Healthier environment
– Working together
• Built on the best evidence
• Sets out a challenge for the
whole system

17. 17
•
The government childhood obesity plan includes a range of measures …
tackling the environment, behaviour, lifestyles and awareness.
Sugar levy NPM
Reformulation Food labelling
Schools

18. We will make schools healthier
Around two in ten children aged 5-15 years meet the
government recommendations* for physical activity (boys
23%, girls 20%)
*Child recommendations for physical activity in CMO report 2011 – one hour moderate activity per day
Source: Health Survey England 2015

19. We will support early years
settings
• Revising menus for early years
settings to form part of updated
guidelines on meeting dietary
recommendations
• Raising awareness of the guidelines
amongst early years providers
• Updated Early Years Foundation
Stage framework to reference
physical activity guidelines

20. Childhood Obesity Plan- Early Years
• “Make Every Contact Count”
• Nutrition, physical activity, healthy weight
messaging and weaning advice
• Sugar reduction in foods targeted at babies
and young children
• Revised menus for early years settings
• Re-committing to the Healthy Start scheme
• The start of a conversation

21. The Keystone of a Wider
Programme
Childhood
Obesity
Programme
Local
Authorities
NHS
FamiliesIndustry
Schools
• Whole Systems Approach
• The start of a conversation
• Everyone has a role:
what’s yours?