Editor’s view - Weighty matters

Well done to Leeds for bucking the trend and being the only city in England to reduce its rates of obesity of Reception-aged children over 2009-2017. A citywide childhood obesity strategy, including the HENRY intervention programme with training for early years practitioners and health professionals, and family support, was a major part of this success.

Incidentally, the HENRY programme was mostly implemented through children's centres, which sounds yet more alarm bells as large numbers of centres continue to be closed across the country.

Despite commendable progress in Leeds, however, the obesity problem continues to expand along with our waistlines.

We report in this issue (pages 12-13) on the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum's recent seminar on child obesity, where the DfE confirmed that the ‘healthy schools rating scheme’ would finally go ahead this year, albeit on a voluntary basis. Concerns were voiced about Ofsted's lack of emphasis on inspecting schools' role in tackling obesity, although the new inspection handbook coming into force in September does refer to healthy food and activity under Personal Development.