4. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: 'Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:07 pm on 22 October 2019.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:07, 22 October 2019

Thank you for the range of comments and questions. I'll deal, to start off, with your point about Brexit. I've never said, either in launching the consultation or in the statement that I made today, that the challenge that we face in terms of combating and reducing obesity as a society is only the result of Brexit—far from it. The point that I make is an unavoidable one, that the scale of our challenge is made harder because of the reality of what Brexit would do. And don't take my word for it; there are many representatives of your own party who recognise the economic impact of leaving on the currently proposed deal. That would have an impact. We know that's true. If we have less fresh fruit and veg available and what we have costs more, we know that will have an impact too. And that's part of being honest. That's part of the honesty that is required, but I certainly don't deny that even if Brexit were not happening, we would still need to look again at what we are doing in this area, because our population figures and the reality of the impact of this issue is not something that we could or should avoid. And that's why we have the strategy.

We start by looking at how we empower and enable people, the assets that exist within people and in their communities. Because, at the outset of this consultation, I did try to point out that I recognise that sometimes, this can be a difficult debate to have. If you wag your finger at people and say, 'You must do better', that doesn't always work, it often puts people off. So, there's something about how you empower and encourage people, because most people actually do want to make a change, and the challenge is how we can support them into a place where they can make that change an effective one. And that is partly about the message of some responsibility for self, but how that is provided is really important and not straightforward, because that can easily turn into a very harsh and unkind debate. And, at the times that we're in, we live at a point in time when, often, that is the default position, and it's very difficult, sometimes, to find the room for reasons through the middle. And this strategy tries to take that approach saying, 'This is what we can do, but we have to work with people', because it's always the case that the biggest influencer on your own healthcare and your own health outcomes is you, the individual person. And that includes me when I look at my health.

On your point about physical activity, you talked about sport in schools, and yes, we do talk about this and officials across the Government have talked about this, but I remember that there was someone who looked quite a lot like you when the consultation was launched in this Chamber, who said that they didn't just want to talk about sport, because not everyone enjoys sport. But there's something about physical activity and opportunities to make the activity range that people undertake, not just in schools, but in communities as well, and that is definitely part of what we're looking at. So, it's not just the daily mile in schools, but very clearly set out within the strategy we do talk about having more physical activity within school settings as part of what we want to achieve.

In terms of your point about what is a healthy weight, and the challenge for people who are underweight and have eating disorders, this is again one of the difficult parts of the consultation because not everyone liked the title 'Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales', as if there was an impression it was deliberately avoiding issues of people who have eating disorders, or people who are underweight. As ever, there is never a perfect title for anything we choose to do, but we do take that seriously, and so there's a whole different stream of work ongoing, but this is the point about what is 'healthy'. It isn't just the weight you are necessarily, it's about 'Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales', the way you live your life, the choices that you make, and understanding what you do to your own body with the choices that you make about eating, drinking and exercise in particular. You'll definitely see those themes, of course, in the areas of learning within the school curriculum, and you'll see consistency between that and the approach we're taking in the strategy.

When it comes to the point about planning healthier environments both at home and at work, again, I take on board the point you're making and again I strive to make clear that we do want to look at that. There are things that we'll want to try and test and do with future legislation. For example, I'm quite keen to test the limits of what we can do in terms of public health and planning, where fast-food outlets are and aren't allowed to take place, the number of them that might be allowed to take place, and how close they are to leisure centres and schools. Those are the things we want to test and see how far we can go with that, because we know that otherwise we'll end up having more of those in areas where we recognise they'll have an adverse impact on the health of the population.

In terms of what is appropriate in terms of activity, yes, we have looked already at what exists in the UK and in other parts of Europe and the US in particular, because I do recognise that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach—no pun intended. For different people, different opportunities will make the difference for them, that will be accessible and things they'll want to do. Some people may really enjoy going out and joining a walking football club, and there are lots of people, men and women, who are enjoying doing things like that. For other people, that would be the last thing that they would want to do. So it's the variety of activity that we can provide and understanding the evidence base for what is the most effective intervention to help support people. It's a difference that, as I say, most people do want to make, and it's about how we help them to do so.