Healthy Weight Healthy Wales - consultation response

In April 2019, we responded to the Welsh Government's consultation on Healthy Weight Healthy Wales, which sets out its proposals to reduce obesity in Wales. We welcome plans to tackle childhood obesity.

Healthy Weight Healthy Wales sets out a range of actions including banning the sale of energy drinks to children, restricting junk food marketing, delivering programmes to promote physical activity and better diets and delivering services for children and families already struggling with weight and inactivity. More information about Healthy Weight Healthy Wales is available online.

Our response

  • Childhood obesity is a child health crisis in Wales. The Child Measurement Data for Wales shows that rates of childhood obesity are worse than anywhere else in the UK or any English region.
  • We welcome these actions but want to see more detail about funding, delivery, evaluations and a timetable for passing new legislation.
  • We encourage the Welsh Government to deliver Healthy Weight Healthy Wales in full, urgently.

Our recommendations

We want to see urgent action to deliver the following:

  • Ensure that all healthcare professionals can make every contact count by having difficult conversations with their patients (whatever their age) who are overweight or obese
  • Expand the Child Measurement Plan for Wales, to measure children after birth, before school and in adolescence
  • Introduce 20mph speed limits in built up areas, to create safe places for children to walk, cycle and play
  • Develop formal recommendations on reducing the proximity of fast food outlets to schools, colleges, leisure centres and other places where children gather
  • Publish ambitious targets to reduce overall levels of childhood obesity in Wales and reduce the inequalities evident in Child Measurement Programme data, setting out the Welsh Government's ambition and enabling evaluation of the strategy

We respond to a wide range of consultations to ensure that the College's position, and ultimately children's health, is represented. Members can get involved in current consultations by contacting the Health Policy team: health.policy@rcpch.ac.uk