The chairs of ‘Fair Society, Healthy Lives’ and ‘The Early Years: Foundations for life, health and learning’ respectively will top the bill of speakers at the UK’s first children’s food conference, launched by the Children’s Food Trust with the School Food Trust.
The Marmot Review into health inequalities in England was published on February 11 2010. It proposes an evidence based strategy to address the social determinants of health, the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age and which can lead to health inequalities.
It draws further attention to the evidence that most people in England aren’t living as long as the best off in society and spend longer in ill-health. Premature illness and death affects everyone below the top.
The report proposes a new way to reduce health inequalities in England, arguing that Government policies have traditionally focused resources only on some segments of society.
Marmot concludes: “To improve health for all of us and to reduce unfair and unjust inequalities in health, action is needed across the social gradient.”
Meanwhile, Dame Tickell says: “The earliest years in a child’s life are absolutely critical, providing the essential foundations for healthy development. If these foundations are not secure, children can experience long-term problems which often present wider social consequences.
“While parents and other carers at home are the main source of support, it is also imperative that the support and education provided in pre-school settings is of a high quality.”
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) was introduced in 2008 to provide a framework to deliver consistent and high quality environments for all children in pre-school settings, recognising the importance of this period in a child’s life.
The Tickell Review was released in March 2011.
The Children’s Food Conference will focus on early years, food and health inequalities for children and the role of parents in helping children to eat well.
Children’s Minister Sarah Teather; Professor Richard Parrish, chief executive of the Royal Society for Public Health; and MyDaddyCooks blogger Nick Coffer will also be speaking, along with representatives for childcare providers, local authority children’s services, medical experts and food manufacturers.
Children’s Food Trust Chairman Rob Rees says: “A decent diet is one of the fundamentals which has the power to help every child to reach their potential in life – improving their ability to learn at school, their behaviour, their health and well being.
“But in a society where some have never had so much while others have never been so poor, far too many children are missing out on this most basic of needs – suffering the impact of malnourishment at one end of the scale and obesity at the other.
“These issues are, literally, eating away at our economy, the NHS and family life – so what more can we do to help parents? Is Government doing enough? How can the food industry really make a difference, and how can nutrition be used more effectively to improve the life chances of children?”
Discussion-based workshops, interactive presentations, a busy exhibition and a post-event reception are all part of the agenda.
To find out more about the event visit www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk/news-events; call 0800 089 5001 or email events@childrensfoodtrust.org.uk.