Early Life Nutrition and Lifelong Health - Derbyshire Local Medical ...

BMA Board of ScienceBox 14: Government’s obesity strategyIn January 2008, the Cross-Government Obesity Unit published its strategy for England, toaddress the rising prevalence of obesity. This strategy recognises the importance of promotingchildren’s health and wellbeing. It encompasses a range of recommendations that includepromotion of breastfeeding, further investment in the Healthy Schools Programme, and thepromotion of a culture of healthy eating. Through the development of a Healthy Food Codeof Good Practice, the Government aims to work with industry and other stakeholders todevelop a single approach to food labelling, to rebalance the advertising and marketing offoods that are high in fat, salt or sugar to children, and to promote the consumption ofhealthy foods, particularly fruit and vegetables. As part of the Code, all food businesses willwork with the Foods Standards Agency (FSA), DH and other stakeholders to deliver a single setof key healthy eating messages.In November 2007, the BMA hosted a stakeholder event on food labelling. Invited representativesfrom health-related organisations and the food industry came together to discuss ways in whichhealthy eating messages can be reinforced through advice about nutrition and food labelling. Thegroup agreed a position statement, which is available on the BMA website, (see Box 15).Box 15: A BMA food labelling statementJanuary 2008The British Medical Association (BMA) has a long-term interest in the health of the public andbelieves that the increase in the frequency of obesity is a cause for great concern. Whiletackling obesity requires commitment to a multi-faceted approach, there is a particular need tochange dietary behaviour. The BMA considers improved and consistent food labelling to be animportant mechanism for enabling consumers to make informed dietary choices.The BMA believes that the food and drink industry should implement a standardised,consistent approach to food labelling. This approach should be based upon the traffic lightfront of pack labelling recommended by the FSA. In order to increase the nutritionalinformation available to consumers we propose that the labelling should also includeGuideline Daily Amount (GDA) information.The BMA also recognises that public awareness should be raised about the health benefits ofmicronutrients. This could be done in the form of in-store leaflets explaining the benefits ofhealthy food choices and stating which foods are rich in which micronutrients.64Early life nutrition and lifelong health