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Dept of Health

Answer

Mr. Paul Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the relationship between rates of obesity in children and levels of physical activity. [122389] Miss Melanie Johnson: The effective prevention and management of obesity requires an integrated, cross- government approach, working with a range of partners on programmes to improve diet and increase physical activity levels. In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the proportion of obese children aged six to 15 years rose by 3.5 per cent. Over the same period physical activity levels have fallen due to a combination of factors and four in ten boys and six in 10 girls are not meeting the recommended hour a day of physical activity for children. Lower levels of activity in daily life are likely to have contributed to the rise in obesity. Physical activity levels in developed countries appear to have fallen due to a combination of factors--including greater use of cars for short journeys, lower sports participation, and greater access to television and computers and other sedentary activities. To ensure that there is a co-ordinated and strategic approach to the planning and delivery of sport and physical activity across a diverse range of sectors--such as transport, countryside management and town planning--a sport and physical activity board (SPAB) has been established. The Board is to be jointly led by the Department of Health and Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Another key project in our programme of work are the local exercise action pilots (LEAP) which we jointly fund with Sport England and the Countryside Agency. LEAP will test the effectiveness of primary care trust led interventions to increase access and levels of physical activity in communities based in Neighbourhood Renewal Areas. Activities range from walking, cycling and swimming, to clinical-based programmes that are focusing on diabetes and weight management.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

122389; 409 c632-3W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Children Obesity Exercise

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk