Islington and Young People’s obesity plan failing

Published: 8th April, 2011
by ANDREW JOHNSON

THE battle against childhood obesity is being lost. Latest figures show there are more primary school age children considered dangerously overweight in Islington than ever before – despite a five-year plan to tackle the problem.

Just under a quarter (24.8 per cent) of nine-year-olds (Year 6) in the borough are obese, figures shown to Monday’s overview and scrutiny committee at the Town Hall reveal. 

This is higher than the London average of 21.8 per cent and higher than the national average of 18.7 per cent.

In 2006, when a plan called the Islington and Young People’s Plan was launched, the number of Year six pupils overweight was 23.6 per cent.

The plan said then: “We have a continued challenge to reverse the trend of rising obesity, with 75 per cent of Islington residents living in flats, a lack of green space allowing young children to be active and easy access to fast food outlets... The main long-term risk of obesity in children and young people is its persistence into adulthood, where it is associated with a greatly increased risk of diabetes.”

As first reported in the Tribune last month, one of the measures now being considered by the Town Hall is to ban fast-food outlets near  schools.

Councillor Martin Klute, Islington’s health chief, said that the Labour-controlled Town Hall was also boosting free school meals as packed lunches often contained too many fatty foods such as crisps and cans of pop.

“There is also a very clear link between poverty and obesity,” he added. 

“We want free school meals for everyone.”

Recent figures released by the Campaign to End Child Poverty showed that Islington had more children living in poverty – 46 per cent – than any other borough in England except Tower Hamlets.

Monday’s committee meeting also learned that just under 40 per cent of children in Islington – 14,867 – lived in families which claimed out-of-work benefits. The report warned that this was only likely to grow worse as “public sector cuts are likely to have an adverse effect on the availability of jobs in the borough which will also impact on worklessness”.

Tackling these issues was the best way of dealing with the problem of obesity, the Town Hall’s children’s chief, Richard Watts, said.

“I think we need a radical approach to public health in Islington,” he said. “We need to send a message to kids about bad diet and a lack of exercise. It’s too early to tell if the free school meals for all scheme has had an impact but we have seen some positive indicators. 

“The root of the problem is poverty, however, which is linked to bad diet and a more sedentary lifestyle. The vast majority of people in Islington live in flats without gardens to play in and parents are worried about letting them play outside.”

The committee also heard that the Town Hall had underspent by £3m and would use £2m of this to bring the reserves back up to the £5m mark.