With child nutrition and obesity making headlines again over recent weeks it seems that the message of eating healthily and leading an active lifestyle is failing to hit home. New figures on children’s weight in England, published by the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care, show that among children in their final year at primary school, one child in three is overweight or obese. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health meanwhile has discovered a fourfold increase in the last 15 years in rickets, the bone disease associated more with Victorian times, linked to a lack of vitamin D.
Although you might not think it, these two findings are closely linked. We get most of our vitamin D from sunlight on our skin but children are increasingly leading a sedentary lifestyle, preferring to stay indoors and watch TV or play computer games. This impacts not only on the levels of vitamin D stored in their bodies but also on their weight. Read behind the headlines, however, and you discover it’s not all doom and gloom. The work being done in the early years sector to encourage healthy eating does seem to be having an effect.
The same report which shows an increase in obesity in children in Year 6 also reveals that in reception, the proportion of obese children (9.4 per cent) was lower than in 2006-07 (9.9 per cent). There is still however a strong relationship between deprivation and obesity, with the risk of becoming obese almost doubling for reception class children attending schools in deprived areas. The obesity prevalence among reception year children in the most deprived 10 per cent of the population is approximately twice that among in the least deprived 10 per cent.
NURSERY MILK SCHEME
So what can be done to close the gap between children who have and those who have not? Government schemes like the Nursery Milk Scheme, run by the Department of Health, and free school meals, run by the Department for Education, play a vital role in achieving this mission, as too often children are missing breakfast and not getting a hot meal outside of school, which affects not only their health but also their education. In the UK, children are eligible to receive free school meals if their parents are in receipt of certain benefits while all children under five in a day care or early years setting for two or more hours a day are eligible to receive a free daily drink of milk, including some four- year-olds in reception classes at primary schools.
Take-up of the Nursery Milk Scheme remains patchy, however, which is partly due to the perceived financial and administrative burden. Specialist suppliers can remove that burden by arranging the supply of milk, administering the scheme and claiming reimbursement on behalf of childcare providers directly from the Nursery Milk Reimbursement Unit (NMRU).
In August the NMRU introduced a new delivery confirmation process which means settings now have to confirm receipt of the milk before suppliers can claim reimbursement. There were fears that adding more paperwork would further deter childcare providers from taking part in the scheme, but while some suppliers have fallen foul of the changes others have been largely unaffected. The UK’s leading school milk supplier Cool Milk, for instance, says over 99.9 per cent of its 24,320 school, nursery and early years customers are responding to confirmation emails each week.
ENCOURAGING TAKE-UP
To encourage better take-up of the scheme, Cool Milk is launching a campaign highlighting the health and educational benefits in partnership with the Children’s Food Trust. In the coming weeks the campaign hopes to highlight to schools, nurseries, parents and children the importance of school milk in fuelling their potential.
Besides the obvious nutritional benefits of drinking milk, the water it contains can help prevent dehydration, which is a common cause of headaches in children. It also gives an energy boost in a way that does not harm teeth, aiding concentration, memory and creativity. Coming back to the concerns surrounding obesity and vitamin deficiencies in children, milk contains essential vitamins such as vitamins A and D and although there is a perception that all diary products are high in fat, semi-skimmed milks contains all the important nutritional benefits but has 55% less saturated fat than whole milk.
Drinking milk can also benefit children in later life. New research by Bristol University has shown that children who regularly drink milk are physically fitter in old age. This supports the results of an earlier study which found that children who drank school milk were up to 40 per cent less likely to suffer bowel cancer as adults.
The evidence stacking up in favour of drinking milk and the level of support for the Nursery Milk Scheme from independent organisations such as the Children’s Food Trust and the Government speaks for itself. As a GP I am also in support of the scheme and would strongly advise that you ensure children in your care are receiving everything they’re entitled to so that all children, regardless of their ethnicity or where they live, have the best possible start in life.
