Mike Hedges AM welcomes announcement for Actions to address the greatest public health challenge of our generation – obesity

Mike Hedges AM welcomes announcement for Actions to address the greatest public health challenge of our generation – obesity
Speaking after the launch, Swansea East AM said…. Obesity is one of the great challenges of our time; we can all see with our own eyes the increase in number of overweight people and children. We know that changes to life style such as children playing on computers rather than going out to play in local parks or play grounds. We need to see a sea change in people’s attitudes to diet and exercise – how many parents now take their children to and from school by car over relatively short distances, walking to and from school would be good for everyone and reduce car pollution and congestion around schools. Reducing obesity will have big benefits for everyone. I hope that everyone will complete the survey so we can move forward in dealing with this blight to our health’
A consultation on the Welsh Government’s new plan to combat the greatest public health challenge facing Wales – obesity – has been launched by Health Minister Vaughan Gething.

Called ‘Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales’, the consultation outlines the actions to be taken to help people in Wales maintain a healthy weight.
The UK has one of the highest levels of obesity in Western Europe. In Wales, twenty seven percent of four-five year olds and sixty percent of our adults are overweight.
Being overweight increases the risk of developing major health conditions such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. It is also a risk to people’s mental health leading to low self-esteem, depression and anxiety.
The proposals set out in the consultation have a strong focus on prevention and are supported by research and international evidence from Public Health Wales into what can help the people to be a healthy weight.
The evidence has informed the content of the plan which is broken into four themes:
• Leadership and Enabling Change – strengthening national and local leadership to deliver change through Local Health Boards, Local Authorities, their partners and with communities themselves.
• Healthy Environments – creating an environment that helps everyone to make healthier food choices and creating opportunities in daily life for people to be active. Including to legislate on price promotions, calorie labelling on foods eaten out of the home, banning the sale of energy drinks to children and to bring together a range of programmes to develop active environments across communities.
• Healthy Settings – ensuring our education, work and leisure facilities promote and provide opportunities for people in Wales to access healthy meals, snacks and drinks and be physically active. Including strengthening support for early years and schools settings to enable healthy eating and daily physical activity opportunities.
• Healthy People – providing the opportunities and inspiring people and communities to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight. Including support for parents and families, focussing on the crucial first 1000 days and early years and to review delivery of the All Wales Obesity Pathway.