A think-tank pamphlet called on the government to introduce a public health strategy for children. The report called for a ban on the advertising of confectionery and fizzy drinks targeted at children, and said the government should issue recommended daily menus to parents.
Source: Howard Stoate MP and Bryan Jones, All's Well that Starts Well: Strategy for Children's Health, Fabian Society (020 7227 4900)
Links: Press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/1, Digest 121, paragraph 2.3
Date: 2002-Dec
Disability campaigners said that the provision of welfare advice is as important to the success of the government's proposed 'Healthy Start' scheme (to reform welfare foods provision) as are links with health professionals or nutritional experts. They urged that the new scheme be linked to the provision of comprehensive welfare advice services within a primary care setting.
Source: Response to Department of Health - 'Healthy Start: Proposals for reform of the Welfare Food Scheme', Disability Alliance (020 7247 8776)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2002-Dec
Researchers evaluated the impact of the national healthy school standard, launched in 1999, on school effectiveness and improvement. Once relative deprivation levels are taken into account (level of eligibility for free school meals), it was found that there is no difference in patterns of improvement or unauthorised absence between 'healthy' schools and others.
Source: Graham Thorpe, Susan Kirk and David Whitcombe, The Impact of the National Healthy School Standard on School Effectiveness and Improvement, Research Brief X07-02, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: No link
Date: 2002-Dec
A collection of essays provided a detailed account of our 'increasingly dysfunctional' food culture and its long-term impact on health.
Source: John Holden, Lydia Howland and Daniel Stedman Jones (eds.), Foodstuff: Living in an Age of Feast and Famine, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Summary | Press release
Date: 2002-Dec
A new government report aimed to improve the nation s health by combating the couch potato culture, and to produce more success in the international sporting arena. It urged a shake-up of England s sporting structures to increase the levels of mass participation in sport and fitness activities, improve the development of young sporting talent, and provide better support for world-class athletes.
Source: Game Plan: A strategy for delivering Government s sport and physical activity objectives, Strategy Unit (020 7276 1881) and Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Links: Report (pdf) | Report | Summary | CO press release | Sport England press release
Date: 2002-Dec
The first ever health and safety module was included in the British Social Attitudes Survey. The survey reported on a number of indicators of awareness, attitudes and behaviour concerning health and safety at work, which could have an influence on the risk of work-related injuries or ill health. Among those who had worked within the last ten years, knowledge of legal responsibilities and rights regarding health and safety at work was found to be generally high.
Source: Alison Park, John Curtice, Katarina Thomson, Lindsey Jarvis, and Catherine Bromley (eds.), British Social Attitudes: The 19th Report, Sage (020 7374 0645)
Links: Summary (Word file) | HSE press release
Date: 2002-Dec
The Health and Safety Commission issued its first ever progress report on the government's 10-year health and safety targets (for the years 1999-00 to 2009-10) for reducing work-related fatalities, injuries, days off work and ill-health in Britain. The Commission said: 'The biggest challenges facing us in meeting these targets lie in the field of occupational health'.
Source: Health and Safety Targets: How are we doing?, Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books (01787 881165) | Press release 18.12.02, Health and Safety Executive (08701 545500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2002-Dec
The number of worker fatalities decreased by 15 per cent to 249 in 2001-02, from 292 in 2000-01. The rate of fatal injury dropped to 0.88 from 1.03 (per hundred thousand workers). The figure had risen by 30 per cent in 2000-01, after the general downward trend in the 1990s, and the rate of fatal injury was still higher than expected had that downward trend continued.
Source: Health and Safety Statistics Highlights 2001/02, Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books (01787 881165) | Press release 10.12.02, Health and Safety Executive (08701 545500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release | Detailed statistics (web only)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122, paragraph 7.4
Date: 2002-Dec
The government announced that it is to work with the food industry and consumers to produce a 'food and health action plan' aimed at improving the nation's health through encouraging people to eat a better diet.
Source: Press release 12.12.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release | DEFRA press release
Date: 2002-Dec
A survey found that people are eating more fruit and vegetables on average than they were fifteen years ago. The survey was the first comprehensive examination of adult eating patterns since 1987, when the survey was last carried out.
Source: National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Adults aged 19 to 64 years, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2002-Dec
The Welsh Assembly Government released a 'healthy and active lifestyles' action plan for consultation. The plan aims to increase public awareness of the health benefits of exercise, increase opportunities for physical activity and reduce the barriers that hinder active living.
Source: Healthy and Active Lifestyles in Wales: A Framework for Action, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 6293)
Links: Report (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2002-Nov
A study evaluated the effectiveness of projects addressing young men's health issues.
Source: Trefor Lloyd, Boys and Young Men s Health: What works?, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 2.2
Date: 2002-Nov
A new public information campaign was launched to increase awareness of the risk of sexually transmitted infections among 18-30 year olds, and to highlight the importance of practising safe sex.
Source: Press release 28.11.02, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
Date: 2002-Nov
General practitioners said the best way to improve the health of homeless people is to provide appropriate and secure housing; that new service models need to be developed which utilise the complementary strengths of generalist and specialist expertise; and that interdisciplinary and multi-agency working are vital to the development of effective services.
Source: Statement on Homelessness and Primary Care, Royal College of General Practitioners (020 7581 3232)
Links: Statement
Date: 2002-Oct
A joint statement by local authorities and the food standards watchdog aimed to promote local initiatives that provide access to safe, sustainable and nutritious food.
Source: Food: The Local Vision, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000), Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services, and Food Standards Agency
Links: Statement (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2002-Oct
The government began consultation on proposals to reform the Welfare Food Scheme (renamed 'Healthy Start'), by broadening the nutritional basis of the scheme to include fruit and vegetables, cereal-based foods, other foods suitable for weaning, liquid milk and infant formula; and to provide greater access to these foods through a voucher with a fixed face value, instead of milk tokens. Pregnant women and new mothers would have to have contact with a health professional in order to gain access to the scheme.
Source: Healthy Start: Proposals for reform of the Welfare Food Scheme, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Consultation Document (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2002-Oct
Food additives can cause behaviour changes in toddlers, even in those who have no history of hyperactivity, a study reportedly found. A study by the Asthma & Allergy Research Centre concluded that all children could benefit from the removal of specified artificial food colourings from their diet.
Source: The Food Magazine, 25.10.02, Food Commission (020 7837 2250)
Links: Article
Date: 2002-Oct
A government taskforce report called for a more unified approach to accident prevention across government and the National Health Service; future efforts to be targeted on priority areas, particularly where there are marked socio-economic inequalities; public health to play a key role in co-ordinating prevention and surveillance; and better use to be made of data already available.
Source: Accidental Injury Task Force, Preventing Accidental Injury - Priorities for Action, Department of Health and five other government departments, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report | Summary | Press release
Date: 2002-Oct
A new book showed how public health research contributes to the making of health policy and to an improvement in health at a population level, and compares public health research in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Source: Walter Holland, Foundations for Health Improvement, Nuffield Trust (020 631 8450)
Links: Press release (Word file)
Date: 2002-Oct
Teenagers welcome the opportunity to discuss health concerns with a health professional, but the effect on their actual lifestyles is 'modest', researchers found.
Source: Zoe Walker et al., 'Health promotion for adolescents in primary care: randomised controlled trial', British Medical Journal 7.9.02
Links: Article
Date: 2002-Sep
A report identified challenges for improving consumer involvement in food policy-making; it argued that the Department of Health in particular needs to develop such strategies in respect of its nutrition and food-orientated public health role.
Source: Involving Consumers in Food Policy - Case Study for the Involving Consumers Project, National Consumer Council (020 7730 3469)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/3, Digest 123, paragraph 4.7
Date: 2002-Sep
Research found that the average young person in Britain spends less time engaged in physical activity than the average pensioner.
Source: Kimberly Fisher, Chewing the Fat: The story time diaries tell about physical activity in the United Kingdom, Working Paper 2002-13, Institute for Social and Economic Research/University of Essex (01206 873087)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2002-Sep
A report set out a strategic vision of how environmental health can contribute to public health and well-being in the future.
Source: Sue Burke, Ian Gray, Karen Paterson and Jane Meyrick, Environmental Health 2012 - A Key Partner in Delivering the Public Health Agenda, Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2002-Sep
A paper examined the case for smoking cessation interventions in general practice in the context of the negotiation of the new general practice contract.
Source: Dawn Milner and Clive Bates, Smoking Interventions in the New GP Contract, Action on Smoking and Health (020 7739 5902)
Links: Paper (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122, paragraph 2.1
Date: 2002-Aug
Around 120,000 smokers in England gave up the habit (for at least a month) between April 2001 and March 2002 after receiving help from National Health Service smoking cessation services - more than double the target figure.
Source: Press release 8 August 2002, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/2, Digest 122, paragraph 2.1
Date: 2002-Aug
A survey found only 3 per cent of organisations use comprehensive occupational health support.
Source: Survey of Use of Occupational Health Support, Contract Research Report 445/2002, Health and Safety Executive, HSE Books (01787 881165)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 30/2, Digest 118 (paragraph 7.5)
Date: 2002-Jun
A report examined ways of integrating community strategies with health improvement plans.
Source: L. Hamer and J. Smithies, Planning Across the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), Health Development Agency (020 7430 0850), Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, Department of Health, Local Government Association, and Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA)
Links: Report (pdf)
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124 (paragraph 2.1)
Date: 2002-Jun
