Childhood obesity – prevention is better than cure

I fully support this article by Sustrans Cymru.

To maintain good health and keep obesity at bay and other serious illnesses in later life, it is recommended that children have at least 60 minutes of moderate exercise every day, such as brisk walking, running, or cycling. But, research suggests that currently only around half of seven to 11 year olds manage to do this. So it's essential to get kids moving. And the journey to and from school is the perfect place to start. We know that, particularly in deprived areas, many parents are scared to let their children go outside because the roads are so busy. That is why we are in favour of 20mph zones in urban areas, and specifically around schools in Wales.

The number of children travelling to school by car has doubled over the last 20 years. Getting youngsters into the habit of cycling to school has obvious environmental benefits, and of course, helps with the fight against childhood obesity too. That’s why the Bike It project being trialled in three areas in Wales is such a good idea. It helps to establish cycling to school as part of a routine, not a one-off occurrence.

There is no precise figure of how much obesity costs the NHS, but every year the health service spends at least £2 billion on treating ill health caused by poor diet. Estimates indicate that, if current trends continue, at least one fifth of boys and one third of girls will be obese by 2020. Therefore the cost to the health service is likely to increase unless measures are put in place to halt this growing problem.

We need now, more than ever, to be focussing on preventing childhood obesity. We know that parents want to do the best for their children and getting them out of the car more is certainly one way of doing so.

Revalidation in Wales

Just to make you aware of a revalidation event which BMA Cymru Wales is organising, to be held in Cardiff on October 21st 2009.

Chairman of the General Medical Council, Professor Peter Rubin will be speaking at the event and wants to hear doctors' views about how revalidation should be implemented in Wales.

This event is open to ALL doctors (whether a BMA member or not)in Wales.

If you would like to attend please email BMA Cymru Wales CEO Sarah Miller - smiller@bma.org.uk

It would be good to get as many doctors there as possible, to get a wide range of views.

Chairman of Welsh Council Invites Questions

The Welsh Secretary’s blog is part of a wide range of social media initiatives to ensure communication with our members is as accessible and wide-ranging as possible.

While trying to keep our members and anyone else who reads this blog up to date with current activities, hot topics and general policy position of BMA Cymru Wales, it is also an opportunity for YOU to put questions to the BMA.

Our Chairman of Welsh Council, Andrew Dearden, is particularly keen to receive feedback or questions from our members, whether it concerns junior doctor issues, our Option 7 Campaign, EWTD, etc. So if you have any questions for Andrew please post them here. In fact, if you have questions for any of the Chairs of our committees (GPs, Consultants, Public Health, Medical Students etc) I know they would be delighted to hear form you.

Local authority continues to put profit before health

I have some serious concerns to share on here about the conduct of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, in particular, the way in which it appears to be dragging its feet over the removal of sunbeds in three of its leisure centres across the county.

Back in May, a Vale Scrutiny Committee recommended in a report to the Cabinet that the sunbeds should be removed. The Council have met three times since then and, in what can only be described as a “reckless failure to uphold their duty of care to the local population,” each time they have failed to consider the issue or take action.

The sunbeds are making a profit of around £15,000 a year for the Vale Council.

Now that the authority is in recess over the summer it will be September, at the earliest, that the recommendation to remove them can be put back on the agenda.

It is a step in the right direction that the dangers of using sunbeds have been recognised by the Scrutiny Committee, but it is difficult to see why the council have not yet taken action. I sincerely hope it simply isn't down to the finance the sunbeds generate. Surely local authorities have a duty of care to the people they represent and a duty to promote public health don’t they?

The Vale is not the only Council to have sunbeds in its leisure centres – Wrexham and Flintshire also do and we have called on them to take action too. Leisure centres, especially those owned by local authorities, should be places where people go for healthy exercise and recreation. Local Authorities should be leading on health protection. It’s absurd that sunbeds are even there. Just one session a month will double the average individual's annual dose of ultraviolet radiation and it’s well known that this increases the risk of cancer, skin and eye problems in later life.

The BMA has been a strong advocate for increasing community access to local leisure facilities and playing fields and has called for increased provision and investment to secure their future.

If leisure centres wish to diversify the facilities on offer, this should not be to the detriment of health and well-being. For instance, the beauty studio at Penarth Leisure Centre should offer fake tan sprays rather than the two sunbeds it currently hosts.

BMA Cymru Wales has campaigned for the tanning industry to be regulated for many years and when we give evidence to National Assembly’s Health Committee next month this is exactly what we’ll be calling for. Across the board we’ll be asking for tough action on sunbeds - including unmanned and coin-operated ones.

In the meantime we are calling on the Vale, and other Councils to act responsibly on behalf of the people they represent by removing the sunbeds at the earliest opportunity.

Juniors affected by exams mix up need our support

This really is an awful situation that these four young people are currently faced with and it’s very difficult to imagine how they must be feeling right now. That’s why BMA Cymru Wales will be doing everything possible to offer as much help and support as we can to get them through this.

Rest assured too, we will be seeking answers as to how such a fundamental error occurred and what changes will be made to make sure such serious mistakes are not repeated. However, at this moment in time, the key focus of our efforts is to ensure that those involved receive all the support we can provide.