25.06.19
Government gives £1.5m to councils to tackle child obesity in England
Five council areas in the England are to receive funding for programmes to tackle child obesity through area-specific schemes.
The programme is supported by the Department for Health and Social Care and councils in Bradford, Blackburn, Nottinghamshire, Lewisham and Birmingham will be awarded £100,000 of funding.
Public Health Minister, Seema Kennedy, said: “Every child deserves the best start in life. Communities need to come together to play their part in helping the next generation to be healthy and active.
“Prevention is at the heart of our NHS Long Term Plan, but a one-size-fits-all approach does not work in public health. These pilots are rightly rooted in the needs of the communities they serve and I look forward to seeing what benefits this grassroots approach has on our nation's obesity problem.”
The government believes the initiative will help shape future national policy, with specialised programmes offering health, nutrition and physical activity-based apprenticeships in some of the most deprived areas of the country.
Blackburn with Darwen Council will incentivise retailers to offer healthier foods options, whilst Bradford Council will enter a partnership with local mosques to help tackle poor health in the South Asian community, who are at greater risk of obesity.
The programmes are part of the government’s three-year Trailblazer initiative to tackle childhood obesity.