Child obesity plan won't work without more public health funding – RCN

RCN wants school nurse and health visitor posts to be returned to the NHS

Positive messages about children's healthy eating will not be heard unless declining school nurse and health visitor numbers are addressed.

The RCN was responding to the government's strategy to halve childhood obesity by 2030.

Banning the sale of 'energy' drinks to children, unhealthy products at supermarket checkouts, and introducing mandatory calorie labelling on menus and a 9pm watershed on television junk food adverts were also among measures announced at the weekend.

Health and social care secretary Jeremy Hunt said: 'Parents are asking for help – we know more than three-quarters of parents find offers for sugary sweets and snacks at checkouts annoying.

• RELATED: Young people’s consumption of sugar sweetened beverages

'It's our job to give power to parents to make healthier choices, and to make their life easier in doing so. Today we are taking steps to ensure by 2030, children from all backgrounds have the help they need for a healthier, more active start in life.'

Every primary school in England will also be encouraged to adopt an 'active mile' initiative, such as the Daily Mile, which encourages every child to do at least 15 minutes' running per day.

Positive messages

The RCN said strategy was 'only half the battle'.

RCN director of nursing, policy and practice Dame Donna Kinnair said: 'Positive messages are a vital, yet the number of health visitors has declined by 20% in three years, and school nurse numbers have fallen even further. This means that for many parents, these messages are simply not getting through.'

Health visitor posts fell in England from 10,309 in October 2015 to 8,275 by January 2018, while, the number of full-time-equivalent school nurses employed by the NHS fell by 23% (680) from March 2010 to January 2018.

• RELATED: Government under fire over ‘damning’ health visitor numbers

Professor Kinnair added services such as obesity clinics were also being cut.

'Childhood obesity not only affects the lives of children now – it is storing up future problems for the NHS.

'To get to grips with the obesity crisis, ministers must reverse the decline in the number of school nurses and health visitors, and return these services to the NHS where they can continue the invaluable preventive work that has been diluted following government cuts to local authority budgets.'

'Bold ambition'

Campaign groups criticised the 'watered-down' first part of the strategy when it was published two years ago, but reacted more positively to the second part.

Local Government Association well-being board chair Izzi Seccombe said: 'It is a bold ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030, but we remain determined to work with government on introducing further measures not included in the plan, including giving councils powers to ban junk food advertising near schools and specialist support for obese and seriously obese children.

'Councils need to be properly resourced to carry out their public health responsibilities effectively and this needs to be balanced against their already over-stretched budgets, otherwise the ill health consequences of obesity in our younger generation risks causing NHS costs to snowball.'

One in three children in England are overweight or obese by the age of 11, according to latest official figures. 

Further information

• Childhood obesity: a plan for action
• Childhood obesity: a plan for action Chapter 2
• The Daily Mile 

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