NHS Tayside has told MSPs that Scotland’s new food body must put greater emphasis on the obesity crisis.
Tayside health chiefs want nutrition to be formally identified as a priority and for the body to ensure that all its work aims to reduce the country’s health inequalities.
In June 2012 Scottish Ministers agreed to create a new food body for Scotland and NHS Tayside has been involved in the consultation process.
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside told the consultation: “We strongly support the Scottish Government’s recognition that improving diet offers similar potential to improve public health as efforts to tackle smoking and alcohol, and that this will be supported by legislation to create a new food body.
“We would welcome stronger leadership on nutrition and the coordination of messaging in Scotland by a new food body as currently there is a fragmented approach to this.
“It would be beneficial for nutrition to be formally identified as a priority and for the new food body to focus on the obesity epidemic and, in particular, the implementation and monitoring of the Obesity Route Map and surveillance of obesity.
“In particular, it would be useful if the new food body could be responsible for the science and evidence-gathering to inform policy and standards, commission research, assess existing nutrition evidence/practice in this area and have a proactive role in guiding public opinion and emerging public health thinking on obesity.
“The new food body should have health equity as a fundamental principle and ensure that all work is underpinned by aiming to reduce the health inequalities that are present within food and nutrition across Scotland.”
The Scottish Government intends to create a stand-alone body for food safety and standards and other closely-related issues.
These devolved functions are currently carried out in Scotland by the UK-wide Food Standards Agency (FSA), which is accountable to all four parliaments/assemblies in the UK.
The food body will carry out all the functions delivered by the FSA in Scotland. The consultation sought views on whether the new food body could usefully expand its role and responsibilities beyond those functions.
The NHS Tayside spokesperson continued: “There are many national organisations across Scotland that currently have a nutrition portfolio.
“The extent to how effective each are in improving nutrition within their area of work is unknown and for some organisations is questionable.
“This lack of effectiveness seen in some organisations is due to a variety of factors, one of which is that nutrition competes with other priorities, such as smoking and sexual health, but constantly loses out.
“Could the new food body complement the work portfolios of the other national organisations? Or could the nutrition portfolios of the national organisations move to the new food body? A review of the effectiveness of the national organisations in prioritising nutrition and meeting food and nutrition outcomes should be undertaken.
“If the decision is to ensure that the nutrition portfolios remained within the national organisations, then the new food body could be directed to monitor and ensure that these organisations meet their nutrition priorities and outcomes.
“It is vital that relationships between all national organisations are maintained.”
NHS Tayside added: “It is vital that the new food body is independent and is seen as being independent from the food industry and working towards improving the nutritional health of the nation.”