National Assembly Committee calls for evaluation of Welsh Government schemes for tackling childhood obesity

26 March 2014

The Welsh Government should evaluate its numerous schemes for tackling childhood obesity, according to a National Assembly for Wales Committee.

The Children, Young People and Education Committee recognises that there is no single solution to the problem but is concerned the Welsh Government was unable to demonstrate how effective some of its programmes are.

The Committee also questioned why the All Wales Obesity Pathway, the toolkit designed to help all health and social care organisations around the country to treat the condition, had not been fully implemented despite being published in 2010.

Wales has the highest rate of childhood obesity in the UK with 35 percent of children classed as either overweight or obese in 2011.

The Committee is concerned that currently there are no level three services to treat obesity among young people in Wales. Level three involves one-to-one care with a specialist multi-disciplinary team which manages dietary programmes, physical exercise and behavioural change.

The Committee accepted the Welsh Government’s priority is in establishing level one and two services which focus on prevention and community and primary care treatment. However, a lack of level three services effectively leaves children and young people having to wait until they are adults before further stages are considered.

“Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing problems we need to address, not just for now, but for the long-term health effects on people in Wales,” said Ann Jones AM, Chair of the Children, Young People and Education Committee.

“Tackled early it can promote a healthy image which stays with a person throughout their life and reduces a reliance on health and social care services in the future.

“The Committee recognises that the Welsh Government is using a number of approaches to address the issue but is concerned that it is unable to demonstrate how effective these different programmes are.

“We want to see the All Wales Obesity Pathway implemented in full across the country. All young people should be able to access the support they need, when they need it, no matter where they live in Wales.

“We are concerned at the lack of level three treatment available to children and young people. This is vital for young people in need of help as they must wait until they are 18 before further treatment is considered. By this time, the damage could have already been done.”

The Committee makes six recommendations in its report:

• The Welsh Government should conduct a review of the progress of local health boards in meeting the minimum service requirements for each level of the All Wales Obesity Pathway;

• The Welsh Government should ensure that level 3 services for children are put in place across Wales. The Minister should report back to the Committee on progress in a timely fashion;

• The Welsh Government should develop and publish an evaluation framework for its strategies relating to childhood obesity to ensure the performance of strategies can be reliably monitored against outcomes;

• The Welsh Government should continue with, and extend, the Child Measurement Programme, and indicate clearly how the data will be utilised to monitor and evaluate childhood overweight and obesity programmes;

• The Welsh Government should publish in a timely fashion a report on the actions taken by the new Welsh Government Cabinet sub-Committee looking at encouraging children and young people to participate in more physical activity, with reference in particular to: the impact of budgetary constraints on the provision of local authority leisure facilities; and the actions being taken to ensure that Welsh Government is working across departments to increase participation levels; and

• The Welsh Government should explore how forthcoming legislation, such as the Future Generations, Planning and Public Health Bills, can be used to address childhood obesity. The Minister for Health and Social Services should report back to this Committee on his conclusions at the earliest opportunity.

Report: Inquiry into Childhood Obesity

More information about the inquiry into childhood obesity can be found here.