Scottish Government
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Health inequalities take hold early
Early intervention is key to stopping disadvantaged children developing bad diets which can affect their entire life, Children's Minister Adam Ingram said today.
The Minister spoke as Growing Up In Scotland (GUS) reports out today show four-year-olds from deprived areas are more likely to have poor diets and be less active.
Mr Ingram said:
"Scotland's future success depends on its young people yet the truth is that for too many their future life chances are determined early on by factors beyond their control.
"Physical play and good diet is key to children's future health and therefore happiness. Although it's really pleasing to see over nine out of ten youngsters in this study eat fruit every day, these findings highlight inequalities in eating habits for some of our youngest children.
"Such trends form part of the wider, deep-rooted social problems in Scotland such as poverty, poor health and lack of opportunity which we are tackling head-on through the Early Years Framework.
"This government has quickly brought in measures to fight obesity and unhealthy eating habits - such as allowing our youngest primary pupils to be provided with free nutritious school meals.
"We will continue to drive forward this early intervention agenda to help parents and families by targeting support at the early years, a golden moment in opportunity when action has the biggest influence on chances throughout a person's life."
Today's Growing Up In Scotland (GUS) reports show that 96 per cent of children in the survey ate at least one type of fruit per day. Mothers from deprived areas were less likely to breastfeed and 39 per cent of children from the lowest income households were in the poorest diet group, compared to 13 per cent in the highest income bracket.
Children in the most deprived areas were over five times more likely to eat in the living room than those in the least deprived areas - 57 per cent and 11 per cent respectively.
Children with the lowest activity levels were most likely to be from the lowest income households.
The Early Years Framework sets out a 10-year agenda to improve the life chances of Scotland's children and tackle inequalities by targeting the early years. It was developed jointly by the Scottish Government and COSLA and launched last month.
The Early Years Framework is part of the wider work being done by the Scottish Government to tackle health inequalities. Equally Well, the report of the ministerial taskforce on health inequalities set out how public service delivery will be revamped to achieve this.
To help our youngest children establish good eating habits the Scottish Government has put in place nutritional guidance for those working in an early years sector. £19 million is being allocated over the next 3 years to NHS Health Boards to help improve nutrition in pregnant women, women of childbearing age and children under five, particularly in low income areas.
The GUS survey was commissioned in 2003 and the research is being undertaken by the Scottish Centre for Social Research in collaboration with the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh.
GUS is tracking 5,000 babies (born between June 2004 and May 2005) and 3,000 toddlers (born between June 2002 and May 2003) through childhood and into their teens. Families were carefully selected to ensure the survey represents Scotland's urban/rural and economic backgrounds. All council areas are represented.
GUS Sweep 3 reports on Food and Activity and Non-Resident Parents were published today.
Related Information
http://www.growingupinscotland.org.uk/
