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17/12/08: Early Years Framework
A transformational framework to improve the life chances of Scotland's children and tackle inequalities by targeting the early years has been launched by the Scottish Government and COSLA.
The Early Years Framework, developed in collaboration with independent experts during the past nine months, sets out a radical shift away from the culture of crisis management to early intervention. It also aims to build greater resilience within families and communities.
This new long-term approach is part of the Scottish Government's wider action to tackle disadvantage and health inequalities and also links in with the recently launched Equally Well implementation plan.
Under the Early Years Framework, areas where action will be taken to give children a better start include:
- A new focus on supporting parents to help their children and help themselves
- A new emphasis on the crucial period of a child's life from birth to three
- Encouraging communities to become more engaged in supporting young children and their families
- Strengthening universal early years services and increasing the skills of the workforce
The framework outlines a number of priorities including the development of parenting capacity as part of ante-natal and post-natal services, better training and new roles in the early years workforce, an emphasis on supporting play and more co-ordinated birth to three services.
The new ethos will feed into the next round of Single Outcome Agreements between the Scottish Government and local partners in 2009/10.
Download the Early Years Framework.
17/12/08: Implementation Plan for Equally Well launched
The Scottish Government has published the Equally Well Implementation Plan.
Following 'Equally Well – The Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities', this implementation plan sets out the path which will see the Scottish Government and community planning partnerships turning the recommendations of Equally Well into real action across the short and medium term.
This plan has been created in partnership with COSLA and also identifies the organisations which will be involved at each stage of delivering the recommendations of Equally Well.
Download the Equally Well Implementation Plan.
17/12/08: New resource to support breastfeeding
From November 2008, a free copy of the new DVD – entitled 'From Bump to Breastfeeding' – will be given to every expectant mum in Scotland by their midwife. The DVD is intended to support women who breastfeed, provide positive and practical breastfeeding information to women who are unsure about whether to breastfeed, and encourage those women who are breastfeeding to continue for longer.
Commenting on the launch of the DVD, Public Health Minister Shona Robison, MSP, said: 'Breastfeeding has many major health benefits for both mother and baby and can help to give a child the best possible start in life. That's why we are committed to promoting breastfeeding throughout the country and providing support for mothers.
'All 14 NHS boards now have breastfeeding or infant feeding strategies and advisors in place and we will continue to work closely with NHS Health Scotland and other organisations to ensure support and encouragement for breastfeeding is available across Scotland.'
Breastfeeding is a key priority for the Scottish Government, which has set a health improvement target for health boards to increase the proportion of newborn children exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks in Scotland from 26.6% in 2006/07 to 33.3% in 2010/11.
The DVD was the brainchild of children's charity Best Beginnings, and the 35 minute film has been produced through a collaboration between NHS Health Scotland, the Department of Health, the Welsh Assembly, Health Promotion Agency in Northern Ireland and the Tedworth Charitable Trust.
The Scottish BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Jacqueline Smith produced the fly-on-the-wall documentary-style DVD, featuring nine women from across the UK, following their breastfeeding journeys. The film explores their expectations and concerns as they prepare to have a baby, their experiences of learning how to breastfeed and the places they go to for breastfeeding support.
Helen Ryall, Programme Manager for Early Years at NHS Health Scotland, says: 'It is great to be here today to launch this DVD with some of the women who star in the film. Breastfeeding is a skill that mums and babies learn together, and I hope this DVD will provide additional support as women start and continue to breastfeed. The DVD shows the benefits and joys of breastfeeding successfully, as well as how to overcome the challenges along the way.'
Gillian Smith, Director at the Royal College of Midwives, said: 'The DVD reassures mothers they would not be expected to breastfeed perfectly the first time. It also shows young mums that if you experience problems breastfeeding, you will not be made to give up breastfeeding or feel a failure because help would be available from a midwife.'
Best Beginnings founder and CEO Alison Baum said: 'Only with accurate information and practical support can there be real choice for families about how to feed their babies. The DVD will enable more mothers across the UK to have the information and reach out for support so they can enjoy breastfeeding their babies for as long as they wish.'
02/12/08: Request for local information by the Public Health Information Network Scotland (PHINS)
The overall purpose of the PHINS network is to keep public health professionals in Scotland up to date with national and local developments in the sphere of public health information via bulletins, email updates and seminars.
PHINS are requesting information for the PHINS bulletin to allow members to share details of their own local projects and events. Information should be:
- A brief description of the local project or event.
- A web-link and/or email address where people can obtain further information.
Please email your information to scotpho@isd.csa.scot.nhs.uk by Monday 15th December.
Please note: In submitting content for the bulletin, please ensure that all projects and events are relevant to the area of public health information.
02/12/08: A new website for customers to aid their food choices
WhatsMyBrand plans to launch a new website in the UK next year, which aims to reduce consumer confusion over food labelling and ingredients. It will also enable people to search for products that meet their specific needs.
According to WhatsMyBrand.com, consumers are 'confused by the different nutritional labelling systems, bewildered by the various accreditation schemes on offer, and find some of the language used on packaging hard to understand or ambiguous'.
They are now inviting food manufacturers to register their product lines on the site, which will go live in January 2009. The website will be a searchable database of information about food and drink products and is free to use for consumers.
In particular, the aim of the website is to help people who have allergies or those who are looking for special products. People who are looking for particular items, like reduced-salt goods, can identify suitable products.
Since more consumers are becoming more conscious of what they eat, such as choosing local, fairtrade or organic goods, the new system should make their search easier.
The site is not an outlet and does not sell products, but users can find information about where to buy them.
02/12/08: Update on food colours from Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency Chief Executive, Tim Smith, has written to stakeholders giving an update on the UK position on six artificial food colours and their effect on children's behaviour. UK Government Ministers have now agreed with the agency proposal for a voluntary ban on these colours.
For more information, please visit the FSA website.
02/12/08: New website - Active Scotland
Active Scotland website has been developed by NHS Health Scotland as a tool to support patients and clients to answer the question "where do I go to be active?"
Looking at physical activity in the broadest sense, the site captures a range of local physical activity opportunities in the form of spaces, places, services and contacts that can help the people of Scotland become more active.
To make things a little easier and to answer any obvious questions that you may have about the site, NHS Health Scotland have produced a Question and Answer sheet (Word, 80Kb).
13/11/08: Guidelines on Commercial Sponsorship in the Public Sector
These guidelines have been produced by Consumer Focus Scotland (formerly the Scottish Consumer Council) with support from the Scottish Government. The guidance covers the principles of commercial sponsorship in public sector and the procedures for commercial sponsorship in the public sector. They are for all public sector organisations.
- Download Guidelines Commercial Sponsorship in the Public Sector (PDF, 2Mb)
- Download Summary of the Guidelines (PDF, 1Mb)
07/11/08: FSA publishes new caffeine advice for pregnant women
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued new advice to pregnant women on daily caffeine consumption.
Pregnant women are being advised to limit their daily caffeine intake, ideally keeping this below 200mg a day. This is roughly two mugs of coffee a day, although caffeine is also present in tea, chocolate, some soft and 'energy' drinks, and certain medicines such as some cold and flu remedies.
The Agency had previously set a maximum daily intake of 300mg. However, the new research suggests, that although the risk is low, a limit of 200mg per day will help to minimise the risk further. The research showed that the average daily caffeine intake during pregnancy was already below 200mg, so for many pregnant women this change in advice will not affect them.
The Agency is advising that if you are pregnant and were already following the previous advice and limiting consumption to below 300mg a day, the risk is likely to be very small. Women should try and reduce your caffeine consumption to less than 200mg a day for the remainder of their pregnancy.
Commissioned by the FSA, the research carried out by the Universities of Leeds and Leicester suggested that caffeine intake during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of foetal growth restriction. These findings and the results of other studies were considered by independent experts of the FSA's Committee on Toxicity who advised a change in the FSA's advice on daily caffeine intake for pregnant women.
Andrew Wadge, FSA Chief Scientist, said: 'This new advice doesn't mean that pregnant women have to cut out caffeine completely, simply that they should be careful and make sure they don't have too much. We would emphasise that the risks are likely to be very small and believe our new advice, which is based on new research and has been considered by leading independent scientists, is sensible and proportionate.'
30/10/08: Food industry draws up first plans for expanded Modern Apprenticeships
New Modern Apprenticeships aimed at attracting hundreds more recruits into the food and drink industry have been given the go-ahead by the Scottish Government.
Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, is one of the first two industry bodies to win approval for Level 2 Modern Apprenticeships in Scotland, along with Construction Skills, the construction industry’s sector skills council.
Unlike the rest of the UK, Modern Apprenticeships have only been available in Scotland at Level 3 since they were introduced in the late 1990s. But with apprentice numbers in some sectors dwindling, pressure has been on the government to expand the scheme, resulting in a pledge made in last year’s Skills for Scotland strategy paper to consider introducing Level 2 Modern Apprenticeships.
Maureen Watt, Minister for Schools and Skills, said: "The Scottish government is determined that all Scots can have the opportunity to develop new skills and Modern Apprenticeships are an important component of Scotland's learning environment."
Kelvin Thomson, Improve’s operations manager for Scotland, said: "This is very big news for Scotland’s food and drink industry and we are very pleased to be one of the first two sectors to get the go ahead. We have been arguing the case for a Level 2 Modern Apprenticeship for some time now to complement the existing Level 3 framework and to act as an entry level qualification for employees.
"Historically, Level 3 Modern Apprenticeships have had limited take up in the food and drink industry. In September 2007, there were just 21 food and drink apprentices in the whole of Scotland. There are various potential reasons for this – half of all staff in food and drink work in jobs requiring skills no higher than Level 2."
"The advantage of a Level 2 Modern Apprenticeship is that it meets the specific needs of employers and employees alike," continued Mr Thomson. "It will result in more people in the industry being able to gain a qualification they can use even as they are working towards, which will have a knock-on effect in terms of people’s aspirations and sense of achievement.
Improve predicts that within three years the Level Two Modern Apprenticeship will attract at least four times the number of learners currently on food and drink-related Skillseeker programmes, with a target of 400 apprentices set for 2012.
30/10/08: Have a Heart Paisley phase 2
Independent evaluation of Have a Heart Paisley phase 2, commissioned by Health Scotland and undertaken by an evaluation team from the University of Edinburgh, has been completed and the reports are available on the NHS Health Scotland website.
30/10/08: New report - Changes in food and drink advertising and promotion to children
Changes in food and drink advertising and promotion to children: a report outlining the changes in the nature and balance of food and drink advertising and promotion to children, from January 2003 to December 2007, has been published by the Department of Health in October 2008 - Changes in food and drink advertising and promotion to children
Fewer children are being exposed to junk food advertising on TV and child-themed advertising spend has decreased by 41 per cent since the beginning of 2003, according to this new report.
This fall is important in TV advertising which fell sharply in 2007 with a drop of 46 per cent compared to 2003. In particular, there was less child-focussed advertising for confectionery, fast food restaurants, non-alcoholic drinks and cereals.
Child-themed advertising spend fell overall (from £103 million in 2003 to £61 million in 2007) - despite an increase in the annual spend on food and drink ads. However, this varied across all media:
- TV had a 46 per cent decrease in 2007 compared to 2003
- Press had 42 per cent increase (national and women's magazines) in 2007 compared to 2003
- Radio, internet and cinema saw a combined increase of 11 per cent in 2007 compared to 2003.
Of the types of food being promoted there was a fall in 2007 compared to 2003 in those foods high in fat, salt or sugar being advertised:
- Fast food - 71 per cent decrease
- Confectionery - 62 per cent decrease
- Non-alcoholic drinks - 52 per cent decrease
- Cereal - 37 per cent decrease
- Dairy - 4 per cent increase.
The report will form a baseline against which future child-themed advertising can be measured in the UK.
30/10/08: Diet, Health and Weight: The Perceptions and Experiences of Young People and Parents in Scotland
After the policy/practice seminar on 16 October, the research findings of the perceptions and experiences of young people and parents on diet, health and weight in Scotland will be disseminated through a final report. This will be published early next year.
However the first part of this research is available and focuses on the perceptions and experiences of young teenagers from disadvantaged families.
- Wills, W. (2005). 'Food, eating, health and fatness: The perceptions and experiences of young teenagers from disadvantaged families.' RUHBC Research Findings Series, Issue 8. Edinburgh: RUHBC
- Wills, W., Backett-Milburn, K., Gregory, S. & Lawton, J. (2008). 'If the food looks dodgy I dinnae eat it: Teenagers' accounts of food and eating practices in socio-economically disadvantaged families.' Sociological Research Online. 13 (1)
- Backett-Milburn, K., Wills, W., Gregory, S. & Lawton, J. (2006). 'Making Sense of eating, weight and risk in the early teenager years: views and concerns of parents in poorer socio-economic circumstances.' Social Science & Medicine. 63(3):624-635
- Wills, W., Backett-Milburn, K., Gregory, S. & Lawton, J. (2006). 'Young teenagers' perceptions of their own and other's bodies: A qualitative study of obese, overweight and 'normal' weight young in Scotland.' Social Science & Medicine. 62(2):396-406
- Wills, W., Backett-Milburn, K., Gregory, S. & Lawton, J. (2005). 'The influence of secondary school setting on the food practices of young teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds in Scotland.' Health Education Research. 20(4):458-465
This research is funded and undertaken by the University of Hertfordshire, Research Unit in Health, Behaviour and Change (RUHBC) at the University of Edinburgh and the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC).
30/10/08: SIGN Management of obesity draft guideline available for consultation
The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was formed in 1993. The objective of SIGN is to improve the quality of health care for patients in Scotland by reducing variation in practice and outcome, through the development and dissemination of national clinical guidelines containing recommendations for effective practice based on current evidence.
Management of obesity draft guideline is available for consultation.
This clinical guidance is for the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults and children and young people. This new draft guidance will replace the 1996 publication of ‘Obesity in Scotland: Integrating Prevention with Weight Management’ commonly referred to as SIGN 8 and the 2003 publication of ‘Management of Obesity in Children and Young People’ again referred to as SIGN69.
Comments on the draft are required by 21 November 2008 and should be sent to lorna.thompson2@nhs.net.
29/10/08: Update on the Evaluation of Nutritional Labelling Research
Commissioned by the Food Standards Agency, the independent expert panel on front-of-pack nutritional labelling (Project Management Panel) has published a paper detailing the work carried out to-date and the scientific basis for the next stage of the evaluation of this labelling in the UK.
From the research so far it’s clear that consumers welcome, and want, front-of-pack labelling and are frequently using this to inform their choices.
The early qualitative research has helped to inform the methodology for the main quantitative stage of the evaluation, with the fieldwork started back in September and due to be completed by December 2008.
The final independent study, due in spring 2009, will provide robust new evidence on how the three types of labelling schemes used in the marketplace are working. It will highlight the elements that are most effective in helping shoppers to make healthier choices.
The report will also be peer reviewed and will inform future UK Government policy decisions on front-of-pack signpost labelling.
For more information visit the Food Standards Agency website.
02/10/08: Scottish Government Announces Free School Meals
Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Children and Early Years Minister Adam Ingram announced today that all school pupils in primaries one to three are to be entitled to free school meals from August 2010.
Plans for a national roll out follow successful pilot schemes, which ran across five local authorities (Fife, East Ayrshire, Glasgow City, West Dunbartonshire and the Scottish Borders) and 35,000 children between October 2007 and June 2008.
Uptake of meals among P1s to P3s rose from 53% to 75%. Within the target group of P1-P3 pupils not registered for free school meals, uptake increased from 41% to 69%.
Ms Hyslop said:
"The Concordat between the Scottish Government and COSLA stated that if the evaluation of the trials were positive legislation would be introduced to allow extension of the nutritious free school meals to all children in P1 to P3.
"This Government has made it a priority to help children in their early years and this initiative does just that, providing every child with a free school meal in their first years at primary school."
The evaluation of the trial aimed to investigate practical issues and to assess early indications of health and other benefits.
Some pupils taking part in the trial were trying and enjoying new foods and some were asking for new foods at home, including healthier options.
Today’s announcement is the latest in the campaign by the Scottish Government to help develop children's tastes for healthy, wholesome and nutritious food by taking an early intervention approach to changing their eating habits, both at school and in the home.
New guidance was recently published to help school catering staff produce healthy meals. In August, all primary schools implemented new nutritional guidelines for the food and drink served and sold on site. Secondary schools will be following suit next August.
Ms Hyslop added:
"We are committed to tackling obesity and unhealthy eating habits at a young age and we are working with CoSLA to deliver positive changes for Scotland's children.
"As part of Scotland's first-ever national food and drink policy, we are encouraging all Scots to develop healthy eating habits that will benefit them for the rest of their lives and help tackle the serious problem of obesity.
John Dickie, head of the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland and a leading member of the Free School Meals Campaign, said:
"This is a massive step forward in the campaign to ensure every child, whatever their home circumstances, gets a healthy meal at school.
Find out more about Free School Meals
29/09/08: SNDRi and the British Medical Association's Award
The Scottish Nutrition and Diet Resources Initiative (SNDRi) have won a British Medical Association (BMA) award for 'Do You Want to Stay Fat?' - a resource developed for individuals with learning and communication difficulties.
SNDRi received the prize from Professor Richard Dawkins, Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, University of Oxford at a ceremony at BMA House on 9 September.
Professor Sir Charles George, Chairman of the Board of Science for the BMA noted that the reviewing panel applauded its ' ...non-patronising and accessible... ' presentation and content. The dietitians involved in the development of the winning resource said 'We are very pleased that this leaflet has been given a BMA award. The resource enables individuals with a learning and communication difficulties to learn about the complications of obesity in a suitable format and style, and gives them the opportunity to make changes to their diet through informed choice.'
In addition, SNDRi's 'South Asian Iron Deficiency Anaemia' was highly commended (a resource developed from a culturally sensitive perspective and translated appropriately into various South Asian languages) and 'Eat Well, Heal Well' (a food first approach to wound healing) and 'Healthy Eating and Gentle Exercise' (a resource to complement 'Do You Want to Stay Fat?) were commended.
SNDRi's project manager, Dr Leona O'Reilly, said 'We are delighted with the win. This is the first year that SNDRi has entered this competition and we are very pleased that 4 of our 6 entries received an accolade. All of our resources are evidence-based, peer-reviewed, have patient involvement and are considered value for money. We will continue to build on our success as we believe that quality patient information is an integral part of the patient journey.'
Find out more about SNDRi or contact the SNDRi team.
29/09/08: Cut-price, what cost? How supermarkets can affect your chances of a healthy diet
The National Consumer Council (NCC) have released their fourth report on the rating of the UK's top eight supermarkets on how they help their customers eat more healthily. It rates the supermarkets based on the salt content of supermarkets' own-brand foods, front and back-of-pack nutrition labelling, price promotions, prevalence of sweets at the checkout, and the information and advice the supermarkets make available.
Overall, Sainsburys comes top for the second time in a row, making good progress in labelling and nutrition, and scoring highly on customer information. The Co-op comes a close second, with a big improvement on its 2006 score.
All retailers made improvements in the salt content of their standard products since 2006 with Asda, the Co-op and Sainsbury's close to meeting the targets set by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
29/09/08: Cutting our carbs - food and the environment
The Green Alliance released a report this summer on some of the issues around an environmentally sustainable food system and what actions are required from stakeholders to achieve a 'healthier, low impact' diet.
Download the Green Alliance report.
29/09/08: Think fit! Promoting workplace health and wellbeing
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has a series of resources for employers interested in workplace health programmes.
The resources cover physical activity, healthy eating and mental wellbeing and include a range of ideas, challenges and signposts, as well as an employee booklet, great giveaway items and fun packaging.
For more information visit BHF website.
26/09/08: Scotland's first-ever Supermarket Summit
The first Supermarket Summit was chaired by the First Minister on 24 September 2008, with top retailers from across the UK discussing how they can work with the Scottish Government to achieve sustainable economic growth.
Discussions focused on how retailers can support the Scottish Government to help secure a sustainable future for Scotland's primary food producers as well as sustainable economic growth for Scotland.
Specific measures agreed by the retailers included:
- Agreeing to join a retail forum to take forward the national food and drink policy, to achieve the freshest, finest future for Scottish produce
- Continuing to work towards reducing waste, including a new target to reduce carrier bag use by 50 per cent by Spring 2009
- Considering how to support 2009 Year of Homecoming
For more information, visit the Scottish Government's website.
26/09/08: Do sustainability issues influence people's food choices?
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published research findings that indicate that shoppers are more likely to consider cost, quality and healthiness over environmental factors when buying their food and groceries. But 53% of consumers said that they did consider at least one environmental issue when food shopping.
Commissioned by the FSA, the research focuses on how sustainability issues impact on people's food choices.
Research participants were questioned in March 2008 on topics that included general attitudes to food, the factors influencing choices while shopping and whether they were willing to pay more for products produced in a sustainable way. Sustainability covered environmental, social and economic considerations.
The survey showed that only 10% of shoppers put environmental issues first when shopping. That compares to 66% of shoppers whose first concern was economic related (including food quality) and 23% concerned with social issues (including the healthiness of food).
The study found that participants had been influenced by issues commonly associated with environmental concerns at least once in the last two months when making purchases - for example, buying free range eggs or choosing a Fairtrade product. It showed that sustainability is clearly still a confusing concept for some people, with two fifths of those surveyed unable to explain what it meant. It also found that consumers have a wide range of views and differing priorities on sustainable food policy.
For more information, visit the FSA website
26/09/08: Healthy Eating in Schools: A Guide to Implementing the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008
Guidance for the Implementation of the Nutritional Requirements for Food and Drink in Schools (Scotland) Regulations 2008 has been launched.
This guidance is intended to help those involved in providing food and drinks in schools to implement the regulations. It explains the nutritional requirements in the regulations and provides guidance on how to comply with them and provides advice on food and drink not covered by the regulations.
26/09/08: Integrating Sustainable Development Into Public Procurement Of Food and Catering Services
Guidance for Public Procurement in Respect to Sustainable Development has been updated for school caterers. It includes advice on various sustainable development objectives like encouraging local sourcing, fair trade, and waste, and how to pursue these various objectives whilst staying within EU procurement law.
It explains how aspects such as freshness, quality standards and asking for seasonal, locally available produce can lead to more engagement from local suppliers.
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