Tackling Obesity in England - National Audit Office

TACKLING OBESITY IN ENGLANDCase Study 8: British AerospaceBritish Aerospace (Bristol) employs over 5,000people on a vast site that accommodates offices,manufacturing facilities and a research centre. Topromote cycling among staff British Aerospacehas invested in showers, changing facilities andadditional bike parking.The company Bicycle User Group reports thatcurrently 10 per cent of staff cycle to work butthe numbers are increasing as the improvementprogramme unfolds. The company also sponsorsa public Project Bike helpline for general cycleroute advice, and in 1998 sponsored the BristolBike Festival.Source: Active Transport 274.18 Much of this activity takes place through the fundingprovided by the Department to organisations such asSport England and the Central Council of PhysicalRecreation, who themselves fund local providers suchas local authorities and sports clubs. Within its fundingagreement with the Department for Culture, Media andSport, for example, Sport England has objectives toinvolve more people in sport and to increase thenumber of places in which sport is played. Theagreement places particular emphasis on increasingparticipation amongst young people.4.19 These aims fit with the Department of Health's objectiveto improve health by encouraging more people to takemore physical activity. Although there has beenrelatively little formalised joint working between theDepartment of Health and the Department for Culture,Media and Sport to date, there is frequent ad hocworking level contact to discuss issues and projects ofmutual interest and to ensure consistent approaches(Figure 19). More formalised joint working relationshipsare now being established, in particular through theInter-Ministerial Group to Improve Children's Diet andActivity, set up in July 2000. In addition, Sport Englandhas employed for the first time a consultant to advisethem on improving integration with the health sector.4.20 Much of the joint working to increase participation insport, particularly amongst socially disadvantagedgroups, is centred around school-based activities indesignated Sports Action Zones. More detail on theestablishment of these zones and related initiatives isprovided at paragraphs 4.51-4.52.iii. Identifying and promoting healthypatterns of eating4.21 Encouraging healthy eating is a key component in tryingto address the rising prevalence of obesity. It is also animportant part of the Department of Health's strategy toimprove health and reduce health inequalities byaddressing priority disease areas, in particular coronaryheart disease and cancers. The Ministry of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food and, since April 2000, the FoodStandards Agency, play an important role in ensuring theadequate provision of safe and healthy foods, helping toeducate the public about diet and encouraging healthyeating. The Ministry has a high level objective "Tosafeguard the continuing availability to the consumer ofadequate supplies of wholesome, varied and reasonablypriced food and drink".4.22 The creation of the Food Standards Agency in April 2000explicitly acknowledged the links between health anddiet. The Agency brought together former policy staff onaspects of nutrition from the Department of Health andthe Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and is19 The links between health and physical recreationDepartment of HealthTo improve healthand reduce healthinequalitiesEncourage and facilitate sportand physical activity for allDepartment forCulture, Media and SportTo improve quality of life forall through cultural andsporting activitiesMore participation in sportby more peoplepart fourHealth DevelopmentAgencyTo provide evidence andguidance on what worksto improve healthn Ad hoc consultation on topics ofmutual interestn Inter-Ministerial GroupSport EnglandTo lead developmentof sport in Englandby influencingand serving thepublic, private andvoluntary sectors36Source:National Audit Office