National Assembly for Wales
Children and Young People Committee
CO 09
Inquiry into Childhood Obesity
Evidence from : Focus on Food
Focus on
Food welcomes a National Inquiry into Childhood Obesity.
Focus on Food has been campaigning for several years for the
reintroduction of practical cooking in schools. Today’s
young parents are from a generation that has missed out on any
compulsory formal practical cooking education in school. Many
children have a poor relationship with food and have limited food
choices. We need to get children interested in food early
before they establish poor food habits. By getting young
children and their parents to cook and connect with where food
comes from we will be able to help change our food culture.
Focus on Food runs the Health Challenge Wales Cooking Bus.
The Cooking Bus focuses on cooking as the key experience
bringing together the range of food messages prioritized in
national and local strategies such as reducing unhealthy eating
(Our Healthy Future 2009), supporting a good start in life
(Together for Health 2012), and achieving and maintaining a healthy
body weight (All Wales Obesity Pathway).
The
Cooking Bus travels to every county in Wales. It was
commissioned by Welsh Government as part of the Food and Fitness
Implementation plan and Appetite for Life. Since launching in
2006, the Cooking Bus has worked with over 300 schools. A
total of 30,000 children have learnt about healthy eating, food
safety and hygiene through practical cooking activities.
Teacher training is a fundamental part of our work, as it
encourages teachers, teaching assistants and senior management
teams to strengthen and embed cooking in the curriculum and wider
school learning.
We also deliver focused training events in the school holidays that
are widely attended by professionals from a range of public health
and education backgrounds. The main purpose of these events
is to give the participants the confidence to carry out practical
cooking sessions and ensure that there is consistency in the
teaching of cooking skills across Wales.
Our experience since the Cooking Bus was launched has shown us that
working in partnership with other projects is a highly successful
approach to health improvement. We have a strong relationship
with the Healthy Schools programme, and with Preschools,
Communities First and Public Health Dieticians. We work
together to provide a coordinated approach to healthy eating in
schools and communities. Evidence suggests that a coordinated
approach to food and fitness is likely to be the most effective.
Public Health Departments in a number of English Local
Authorities are commissioning Focus on Food to deliver practical
cooking leadership training for primary teachers and community
project workers.
Cooking
is a successful tool of engagement, it is non threatening and
enjoyable. Through cooking, a variety of health messages can
be delivered. The most obvious ones relating to eating more fruit
and vegetables, reducing saturated fat and salt and adjusting
portion sizes to help maintain a healthy weight. Through
practical food preparation and cooking activities the nutrition
messages become more realistic. By making healthy dishes that
are easily reproducible, economical and appealing, children and
parents are more likely to continue cooking.
Obesity rates among young people in Wales are not declining.
Focus on Food maintains that the diet and health of the
nation will not change unless people are taught the basic skills to
cook tasty meals from fresh ingredients. Cooking is the key to
empower and enable children and their families to exercise choice
over what they eat and take full control of their food lives.
Richard Shaw
Advisory Teacher, Health Challenge Wales Cooking
Bus