Part of 3. 2. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Well-being and Sport – in the Senedd at 2:56 pm on 21 June 2017.
This is really great news. It’s very positive, and the daily mile is a very useful tool. However, let’s be frank, we’ve had endless debates in this Chamber about the risk of obesity, about how it’s becoming the public health challenge of the future, about all of the consequences of being too overweight for people, especially in their later life, and where we’ve got to stop it is with the young children. So, my concern is that, whilst you’re encouraging schools to take up these kinds of options, while you’re encouraging these holiday activities, what I think we need to put into place, and what I was wondering was whether you’ve had many discussions with the Cabinet Secretary for Education along these lines about making it not optional and not boring. We need to have exercise in schools that children have to undertake but that is fun, isn’t judgmental. It can be dancing to One Direction; it doesn’t matter, as they’re still getting fit. I think that it’s really important that you do not give schools the opportunity to opt out of some of this stuff, because it is these kids who, as Vikki’s mentioned, are growing up and will have all of those health problems in the future, and I think we’ve got to be really, really strong on this subject.