To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government has taken to review the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on delivery of the Childhood Obesity Action Plan.
This answer is the replacement for a previous holding answer.
Answered on
13 July 2020
Through the three chapters of our childhood obesity plan we are delivering a wide range of measures to help achieve our bold ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce the gap in obesity between children from the most and least deprived areas by 2030.
Public Health England led a rapid review to better understand how different factors can impact on how people are affected by COVID-19. This includes analysis of age, deprivation and obesity, where data was available. The review’s findings were published on 2 June and are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-review-of-disparities-in-risks-and-outcomes
Many of the measures in the three chapters of the childhood obesity plan will have an impact on tackling obesity across all age groups. These include the soft drinks industry levy, sugar reduction and wider calorie reformulation programme, restricting promotions and calorie labelling in restaurants which will improve our eating habits and reduce the amount of sugar we consume.
We remain committed to reviewing what more can be done and will continue to monitor progress and emerging evidence.