Memorandum by The National Federation
of Women's Institutes (WP 26)
The National Federation of Women's Institutes
(NFWI) is the UK's largest national voluntary organisation for
women. It has some 215,000 members, in 7,000 Women's Institutes
across England, Wales and the Islands. It is an educational, social
and non-party political and non-sectarian organisation that particularly
represents the views of women in rural communities.
The NFWI has a long-standing history of commitment
to improving the nation's diet and health, particularly regarding
food and sustainability issues. Each year the NFWI passes a number
of resolutions, which form the focus of its campaigning work.
At the NFWI's AGM in 2003, WI members passed a mandate by an overwhelming
majority, which states:
"This meeting views with concern the
increase in obesity and diet-related health problems in children,
and the associated risk of chronic disease in later life, and
urges HM Government to regulate the promotion to children of foods
that contribute to an unhealthy diet and to ensure increased opportunities
for exercise and practical food education in schools."
The NFWI welcomes the opportunity to submit
comments to the Health Select Committee about the effectiveness
of the proposals contained in the Government's Public Health White
Paper Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier (November
2004). The NFWI made a detailed response to the Public Health
White Paper consultation; the response represented the views of
the 202 responses received by the NFWI Public Affairs Department,
which in turn represented the views of 706 NFWI members. The summary
of our submission is included in Annex 1.
WI members strongly support a ban on the promotion
of food to children that can contribute to an unhealthy diet.
The White Paper acknowledges the problem of food promotion to
children. However, it has proposed only to strengthen voluntary
codes of practice rather than introduce robust legislation. The
NFWI believes that this response is both weak and insufficient.
WI members feel strongly that voluntary codes will not suffice
in curbing industry's advertising power over children's diets
and it would like to see the Government put firm legislation in
place. The NFWI believes that regulation would be a cost effective
way of protecting the nation's public health.
The White Paper states that it will monitor
the success of such voluntary measures and will assess their success
in 2007 (p 36, para 58). The NFWI believes that this action is
too little, too late! It believes that the continued resistance
from most within the food industry to acknowledge its role in
the problem suggests that industry will, again, object to and
then ignore the Government's proposed voluntary controls. The
NFWI believes that an alternative approach would be that suggested
by the Children's Food Bill, which was presented to Parliament
by Debra Shipley MP in May 2004 and is coordinated by Sustain.
The purpose of the Bill is to improve children's current and future
health and prevent the many diseases that are linked to unhealthy
diets by protecting them from commercial activities that promote
unhealthy food and drink products.
In schools, the White Paper states that the
Government would like to see schools provide food education and
skills, promote healthy food and restrict other option. However,
there is neither indication of how this will be achieved, nor
of what will happen if schools do not follow this advice (p 57,
para 54). It states that the Government "will strongly consider
introducing nutrient-based standards" for school meals (p
58, para 57), but again there is no commitment given to do so.
The NFWI would like to see concrete implementation proposals to
support these statements.
The Food Standards Agency's Review of research
on the effects of food promotion to children (2003) clearly establishes
that food promotion has a direct effect on children's food preferences,
purchase behaviour and consumption. It is, therefore, of great
concern that the Government's Public Health White Paper relies
on voluntary measures and suggested policy action for the future
rather than firm commitments for policy change in the area of
obesity and children's health. The NFWI feels that the Government's
proposal will be ineffective in reducing the ever-increasing burden
of obesity and that it must make firm commitments to specific
action in the area of marketing unhealthy food to children and
food in school environments.
January 2005
Annex
SUMMARY OF
WI MEMBERS' RESPONSES
AND KEY
RECOMMENDATIONS
WI members believe that children should be at
the heart of any public health strategy. As the future generation
they are most likely to benefit from any intervention. If the
Government is sensitive to accusations of "nanny statism"
then interventions aimed at children are less likely to attract
this criticism. That does not mean that public health interventions
should focus exclusively on children there are many initiatives
throughout the life course which can have a substantive improvement
in health.
WI members have again confirmed their support
for a ban on the promotion of food to children that can contribute
to an unhealthy diet. 87% of WI members renewed their call for
regulation on food promotion to children as one of the key policy
measures needed to tackle the obesity crisis in the UK. Other
key policy recommendations for government from WI members were;
for significantly increased opportunities for physical activity
(both within and outside schools), and a strong call for the re-introduction
of practical food education in schools as an integral part of
"whole food policies" on food in schools to include
a complete overhaul of nutritional standards in school meals.
WI members also identified the need for a clear,
well-constructed health improvement campaigns to promote better
diet, exercise, and healthier lifestyle choices as having the
potential to impact significantly on Public Health. A range of
complementary initiatives should support this; most importantly:
improved food labeling; an end to the marketing of unhealthy food
in schools; controls introduced on the marketing and branding
of unhealthy food to children.
WI members identified parents as making the
greatest difference to the choices that children make regarding
diet, closely followed by the media. However it was noted that
pressure from the media, and the absence of clear, unbiased labeling
often made it more difficult for parents to make healthy choices
on behalf of their children. WI members concern regarding media
influence is clearly demonstrated with 36% of respondents citing
TV and Magazines, and 29% citing advertising as having a major
impact on children's choices. WI members noted that if David Beckham
and Michael Owen could be employed to promote healthy lifestyles
rather than the soft drinks and crisps they currently choose to
endorse, it might make parents choices easier.
WI members also called for practical action
that would make it easier for people to make healthier choices
such as providing subsidies on fresh fruit and vegetables, particularly
those that are locally sourced. A number of members also noted
that fruit and vegetables in supermarkets often attracted the
highest mark up, whilst high fat, low nutrient foods, particularly
at the value end of the market are sold as loss leaders to convince
consumers of the competitiveness of the store. This often means
that for low income consumers the most affordable options are
the least healthy. If the Government helped to set up food cooperatives
it would improve access to fresh fruit and vegetables for all
consumers, and help the Government meet it's a "five a day"
targets for consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Key recommendations:
Introduce a school food standard: 88% of WI
members endorse the Consumers Association call for a school food
standard. WI members believe that a well-balanced school meal
is vital to children's health, but recognise that this would need
investment to repair harm done by diminution of school meals.
Put practical cooking back on the curriculum:
91% of WI members urged the Department of Education and Skills
to introduce a food curriculum where all children receive practical
cookery lessons and learn about nutrition and food.
Increase physical activity in schools: 94% of
WI members also noted that the current levels of physical activity
are too low. There needs to be at least three hours of physical
activity in the curriculum per week and the definition needs to
be widened to include activities which are attractive to children
and young people who are not interested in traditional sports
Regulate the advertising of food to children:
87% of WI members demanded the introduction of a children's watershed
for food advertising. Members believe that voluntary codes relating
to food advertising have been proven not to work, as the food
industry has patently failed to act in a responsible manner up
until now.
Ensure that manufacturers act responsibly: 86%
of respondents think that manufacturers should be forced to reduce
levels of fat, sugar and salt in foods aimed directly at children
to levels considered appropriate by the Food Standards Agency.
(FSA). The Government should also examine financial incentives
to manufacturers to lower the levels of fat, sugar and salt in
their products, and disincentives to products that are high in
these. VAT should also be amended to address anomaly where VAT
is charged on fruit juice but not on biscuits.
Introduce mandatory food labelling to show levels
of sugar, salt and fat either high, medium or low respectively
and guideline daily amounts
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