Comprehensive Analysis: UK Government's Childhood Obesity Action Plan

This report analyzes the UK government's Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action, specifically focusing on Chapter 2 and the COP2 framework initiated in 2018. The report highlights the alarming prevalence of childhood obesity in the UK, with one in five children affected, and outlines the rationale, objectives, and recommendations of the government's plan. The primary goal is to reduce sugar consumption and calorie intake in children's diets, supported by initiatives targeting restaurants, manufacturers, and retailers. Objectives include developing educational programs, collaborating with schools, and implementing the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The report also critiques the plan, acknowledging both its strengths, such as the potential to address health inequalities, and weaknesses, such as potential price increases and limitations on advertising. The report concludes that the policy has more strengths than weaknesses and should be propagated to have a positive impact on children and the community. The report also references the use of promotional activities and advertising to encourage the framework to work towards the eradication of this issue in an effective manner. Finally, the report includes a background section and references to relevant sources.

Below graph showing number of children between 2-15 age range who are
overweight
(Source: Health Survey. 2018)
(Source: Child obesity, 2018 )
RECOMMENDATIONS
The local authorities along with the campaign people must try to
develop a railblazer program to understand the differences and the
challenges faced while imparting education about the side-effects of
obesity. With reference to the government's plan about mitigating
obesity in the next decade, it is imperative to collaborate with schools
and colleges to discard the use of junk food and encourage them to
join any sport or physical activity. Implementation of National Child
Measurement Programme (NCMP) must be used on regular basis to
measure the weight and height of children in all the schools at
regional levels. This helps the authorities to connect with the parents
and give them training about weight management services. Lastly, a
new framework called as Ofsted must be developed to support the
personal development of children in context to adoption of healthy
behavioural lifestyles.
OBECTIVES
 The main aim is to lower down the sugar percentage by 20
percent in those food products which are mostly consumed by
children until 2020 with the focus to reduce 5 percent of the total
target in the first year.
 To promote the calorie reduction programme by generating
awareness among restaurants, manufactures and retailers. Here,
the calorie intake must be reduced by 20 percent by the year of
2024 so that children will be inclined towards buying healthy
products.
RATIONALE
Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action was proposed by the
Government of United Kingdom in 2016. COP2 is the extensive
framework that is based on fighting obesity especially in children. It
has been initiated in 2018.
Obesity is one of the biggest public health problems that have
plagued the UK population. One in five children have been
diagnosed as obese. Thus, this campaign is useful in creating
awareness about adopting healthy lifestyle by maintaining eating
patterns. Along this, it will shed light on tackling the mental health
issues and sedentary routines of children which is turning this issue
into an epidemic.
HEALTH PROMOTION
BACKGROUND
Topic: Tackling obesity, in the wider population and particularly
among children
Childhood Obesity: A Plan for Action, Chapter 2 is an extension of
COP of 2016 which was undertaken by the UK Government to tackle
obesity in UK. The purpose is to drop the obesity rates in children by
2030 through strategic planning for minimizing the health inequalities.
Currently, COP2 is working in proximity with achieving the Public
Health England's mission of reducing the sugars' intake by 2020
amongst children to tackle obesity issue. For instance, Waitrose
reduced the sugar content by 5.5 percent out of their confectionery
products. There are estimations that 28 percent from 2-15-year-old
have been suffering from the obesity issue in England only.
There is a great need to regulate these objectives in accordance with
a legislative framework. Here, promotions and advertising have been
used to encourage the entire framework to work towards the
eradication of this issue in effective manner. Introduction of 9 pm
watershed on TV has been implemented to end the airing of HFSS
(High in fat, sugar and salt) products. Along this, online advertising is
under supervision of Committee of Advertising Practice on the basis
of a self-regulatory framework. Henceforth, both social media
platforms and campaigns with recreational activities have been drawn
to gain the attention of the targeted audience.
OVERALL CRITIQUE
COP2 campaign is dealing with decreasing the obesity rates of the
children from the most and least deprived areas by the year 2030. The
prime focus is on bridging the gaps through applying strategies like
banning the promotional activities related to junk food products. Along
this, it is considered as one of the sustainable policies that have
demonstrated a strong basis in a forward-thinking manner. This is
beneficial by using interventions which have become compulsory to
follow by the governmental regulatory bodies. Here, 3 A's: Affordability,
Availability with Acceptability has been executed and support the
government to implement it effectively on larger scale. It also assists in
streamlining the marketing of soft energy drinks on various platforms
and encourage physical activities like cycling, joining team sports etc.
Few drawbacks that can be considered are that pricing might get
increased due to inclination towards the organic products, focus group
is children and sometimes leads to ignorance of other age-groups and
advertising restrictions on the media companies. However, there are
more strengths than weaknesses. Therefore, this policy must be
propagated as they have positive impact on all the children and the
whole community as well.
Department of Health and Social Care, 2018. Childhood obesity: a plan for action, chapter 2.
Kleinert, S. and Horton, R., 2015. Rethinking and reframing obesity.The Lancet.385(9985).
pp.2326-2328.
Knai, C., Petticrew, M. and Mays, N., 2016. The childhood obesity strategy.
Health Survey. 2018. [Online]. Available through: < http://healthsurvey.hscic.gov.uk/data-
visualisation/data-visualisation/explore-the-trends/weight.aspx?type=child >
Child obesity. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8338456.stm >
REFERENCES