Speaking at the 'Childhood obesity conference - changing Scotland's culture' in Edinburgh on 21 June, Tom McCabe urged parents and families to take steps to make a real difference. He said, 'Government has a key role to play in improving health by providing support, encouragement and opportunity for everyone in Scotland to lead healthier lives. But we can all do something as parents and individuals.'
Mr McCabe stressed that Scotland was not the only country to experience the problem of a rise in the level of obesity, which had increased in nearly all developed countries in the past 20 years and added, 'We cannot - and are not - sitting back and doing nothing to stop this health time bomb. Scotland's children are our future and we must help them to develop the confidence, skills and self-esteem that is the basis of good health.
'We are making huge strides by delivering healthier food in schools, free fruit and more opportunities to be active.'
Mr McCabe revealed that a recent World Health Organisation study found that 11-year-old Scottish children actually ate more fruit than most of their contemporaries in other European countries. But he said improvements could still be made. 'By taking simple steps such as playing with their children or walking them to school and choosing carefully what the family eats, parents can make changes to the health of their children'.
Two weeks ago the Scottish Executive announced its intention to recruit 400 more PE teachers for Scottish schools, including specialist PE teachers for every Scottish primary school, as part of its campaign to turn the tide against childhood obesity.
Then last week the Scottish National Party revealed its diet and fitness action plan to stop the obesity crisis. The SNP's plans, which are to go before its annual conference in September, include introducing fitness checks for children, and monitoring their weight and height.
Shadow health minister Shona Robison told Nursery World, 'I would be willing to consider an extension of that to nursery children.' She said that it would also push for local authorities to provide more breakfast clubs as part of the SNP's childcare policies.
The party also plans to pilot free healthy school meals for children from Primary 1 to Primary 3 and extend the provision of free fruit to all primary school children, as well as increasing the eligibility of free school meals to the 30 per cent of children living in poverty in Scotland.
The SNP's measures would cost around 80m a year and funding would come from both health and education department budgets. The action plan followed Ms Robison's introduction of a Members' Bill last month that proposes an end to junk food advertising to children, and for only healthy snacks and drinks to be sold in school vending machines.
Last week Ms Robison also revealed that the number of five-year-old children in Scotland with tooth decay had not improved since 1999. She said, 'The SNP has launched an action to stop the threat of childhood obesity, and these proposals will also benefit dental health.'
Last month a survey by BBC Radio 4's Today programme found tooth decay in Scottish children to be the worst in the UK.
