Medway childhood obesity rises

A decision to restrict the opening hours of fast food outlets near schools has failed to curb childhood obesity with rates instead rising.

In 2014 Medway Council put in place rules which limited takeaways if they were located within 400 metres of a school.

At the time, the council said preventing fast food outlets from opening during school lunchtimes and for a period after the school day was an effort to prevent unhealthiness in children.

Medway had 238 takeaways in 2014, 179 of which were within 400 metres of a school – 10 years later, the total number of takeaways across the Towns has reduced to 221.

Public Health England data for the 2013/14 cohort of children in reception and year six shows that 21.9% of reception children and 32.8% of year six children measured were either overweight or obese in Medway.

The England averages for the same cohort was 22.6% for reception children and 33.5% for Year six children.

But 10 years on rates of overweight and obese primary school children have risen, with the 2022/23 figures being 22.3% of Medway’s reception children and 37.4% of year six children being overweight or obese.

Over this period, Medway has increased faster than the England average and now both groups of children are above average, with 21.3% of reception children and 36.6% of year six children being overweight or obese across the country.

For reception children, the percentage of reception children overweight or obese peaked in 2019/20 at 25.5%.

The percentage was highest for year six children in 2021/22 when it reached 41.5%.

Despite the inability to curb a rise in child obesity Medway Council still believes the decision was the “right one”, adding that no single policy can tackle the problem and it would be wrong therefore to categorise the move as “ineffective”.

Cllr Adrian Gulvin (Con) says the result has been disappointing, but he still believes the initiative was worthwhile and that improving public health is a multi-faceted problem.

He said: “It’s one of the public health issues we tried to do a lot about, but it’s not been successful.

“It does come down to personal responsibility at the end of the day. All of that ‘chips with everything’ and not having the five fruit and veg a day. Partially it is a choice.”

He says making a difference to public health is like a jigsaw where lots of little pieces gradually work up to make a big difference.

He continued: “There’s been lots of initiatives, you have just got to keep chugging away at it – the last thing you should do is throw your hands up.”

He adds the problem needs to be dealt with as obesity puts greater pressure on the health service with additional conditions – but intervention needs to be approached in the right way to be effective.

He said: “If you go hard you get those who resist because it feels a bit nanny state and that can turn people off as they don’t want to be told what to do. It’s got to be more nudge.”

Dr Julian Spinks, a GP based in the Medway Towns, says he supported the introduction of the policy, but to really tackle the issue requires a wide-ranging approach – primarily based on educating people about healthy eating.

He said: “I think it was a reasonable thing to do but as a measure on its own it’s not enough.

“It’s really important to do something around childhood obesity because if it isn’t caught then it will develop and leads to severely overweight and obese adults.”

He believes the prevalence of ultra-processed foods in supermarkets and takeaways is a major driver of obesity.

Dr Spinks added: “My parents’ generation all cooked from scratch and – although it was meat and two veg – it is still healthier than the ultra-processed ready meals and takeaways.”

He adds it’s not just about knowing about which foods are healthier or how to cook healthy meals – education of the variety of healthy foods available is also needed.

“In French schools they have ‘food appreciation’ classes where children learn about all different types of food and get to try them and understand them,” he explained.

“We have more options than ever before in terms of food available, both variety and supply, but some children’s diets are very limited to easy ready meals or takeaways which are not healthy at all.”

He feels any approach should cover education about diet as well as exercise, but there’ll be no instant change, instead taking years to change attitudes.

The GP believes the process will be similar to the shift around smoking, which was once prevalent but gradually, as people understood the health effects combined with government interventions, has reduced.

The authority’s deputy leader, and chair of the health and wellbeing board, Cllr Teresa Murray (Lab) said no individual policy is ineffective, but several need to work together to improve health.

She said: “The step taken by Medway Council in 2014 to limit school children’s easy access to unhealthy food choices was the right one.

“No single policy can tackle the ever growing endemic of childhood obesity – and with the challenges that recent decades have brought in keeping children active and well fed, no single policy can be branded as ineffective.

“What’s important is that we use a range of strategies to ensure we reach all of those who need support and evaluate the impact. For every child this will have made a difference to, it has been a success.

“We will continue to deliver a wide range of programmes aimed at keeping children fit and healthy, and we will work constructively with the Government at further ways to tackle this on a national scale.”

Medway Council’s Children and Young People overview and scrutiny committee discussed the council’s five year child obesity plan at a meeting last Thursday (October 3).

The plan includes programmes such courses which teach children about cooking as well as providing sports events and activities to get children active.

During the meeting, council officers highlighted how active travel was being encouraged through projects such as the School Streets Scheme which makes it safer for children to walk to school.

Councillors also discussed how deprivation affects health outcomes, making parents and children more conscious of health, and ensuring children are accessing healthy foods no matter whether they live in urban or rural areas of Medway.

They agreed to note the plan with their comments recorded which will be considered by the council’s cabinet at a later date.