, Welsh Deputy Minister for
Mental Health and Wellbeing, made the following statement
today:
Today, I am launching two consultations about healthy food
environments and ending the sale of energy drinks to children and
young people under 16. These mark an important step towards
delivering our ambitious plans set out in our 10-year
strategy Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales.
Obesity is one of the most significant challenges we face as a
population and is one of the key risk factors in many
non-communicable diseases and is one of the greatest causes of
the number of years lived in disability.
Overweight and obesity affects more than 60% of adults and more
than one in three children at reception age. Early results from
studies conducted in a number of countries suggest the prevalence
of overweight and obesity has increased in children and
adolescents during the pandemic.
To drive positive change we have to take a multi-pronged
approach. This includes changing our wider food environment to
one which both encourages and makes it easier for us to make
positive choices for our health. A regional report on obesity by
the World Health Organisation, which was launched this month,
makes it clear that “efforts to prevent obesity need to consider
the wider determinants of the disease, and policy options should
move away from approaches that focus on individuals and address
the structural drivers of obesity”.
We want to create an environment across Wales where the healthy
choice is the easy choice.
The healthy food environment consultation focuses on three themes
– healthier shopping baskets; healthier eating out-of-the-home
and healthier local food environments. The proposals we are
asking people to consider, include restricting the promotion of
certain foods and drink; mandating the display of calories in
restaurants and food outlets and using existing planning and
licensing powers to consider the density of hot food takeaways in
a particular area.
We want to use our existing powers and policy approaches to
develop change across Wales.
The second consultation aims to use existing powers to end the
sale of energy drinks to children and young people under 16.
My officials will engage with a range of stakeholders to discuss
the proposals and capture in-depth insight and feedback. This
will include gathering opinions from the public and from specific
focus groups to ensure we hear from and gather differing views.
We will also hold specific industry and stakeholder engagement
events and will put in place approaches to ensure we hear
directly from children and young people from across Wales.
Attached is the link to the consultations:
Healthy Food Environment
Consultation
Energy Drinks
Consultation
