Inquiry into Childhood Obesity

The National Assembly for Wales’ Children and Young People Committee is undertaking an inquiry into childhood obesity.

The overall aim of the inquiry is:

to review the effectiveness of the Welsh Government’s programmes and schemes which are aimed at reducing the level of obesity in children in Wales and to identify areas where further action could be effective.

The inquiry will cover lifestyle factors contributing to childhood obesity, the support available for overweight children and treatment (clinical and non-clinical) for obese children and their families.

To assist with its inquiry, the Committee would welcome your views on any or all of the following points:

1. The extent of childhood obesity in Wales and any effects from factors such as geographical location or social background;

2. The measurement, evaluation and effectiveness of the Welsh Government’s programmes and schemes aimed at reducing the level of obesity in children in Wales specifically:

o Health related programmes including Change4Life, MEND,

o Programmes related to nutrition in schools including Appetite for Life,

o Cross cutting programmes for example leisure and sport related programmes (Creating an Active Wales); planning policy; and

3. The barriers to reducing the level of childhood obesity in Wales;

4. Whether any improvements are needed to current Welsh Government programmes and schemes and any additional actions that could be explored.

You may also wish to submit any other evidence you feel is directly relevant to the above terms of reference.

Invitation to contribute to the inquiry

The Committee welcomes responses from both individuals and organisations. If you are responding on behalf of an organisation, please provide a brief description of the role of your organisation.

The Committee welcomes contributions in English or Welsh and will consider responses to the inquiry and hold oral evidence sessions during the summer term.

If you wish to submit evidence, please send an electronic copy of your submission to CYPCommittee@wales.gov.uk. 

Alternatively, you can write to:

Committee Clerk

Children and Young People Committee

National Assembly for Wales

Cardiff Bay, CF99 1NA.

Submissions should arrive by Friday 3 May 2013. It may not be possible to take into account responses received after this date.

Disclosure of Information

It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a Committee. Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report. The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.

In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.

If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published and to provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.