Food survey March 2008
The government’s strategy to combat what they refer to as ‘the rising tide of obesity’, Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, has the ambitious target of reversing the trend and enabling every adult and child to maintain a healthy weight. In a cross-departmental document created by the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Secretaries of State Alan Johnson and Ed Balls lay out a vision of what this goal means for ‘schools, the food industry, employers, health services and others’. But apart from a few rather limited references, there is little mention of the part early years settings can play in children’s eating habits and providing much-needed support and information to parents about their children’s early nutritional needs.
We are gathering information from members that we can take to the government as specific calls for support. We are currently focusing on the amount settings are able to spend on providing meals and snacks, what the challenges are to providing healthy menus and what support members would welcome from the government in this area. We would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to respond to the short survey below. It is only through continued, focused campaigning that we will make the government realise that getting things right in the early years is crucial to the long-term health of the nation.