CHILDREN'S health was in the news last week following the publication of a study by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

They reported that the health of children in Scotland is among the worst in Europe and identified an alarming gap between rich and poor.

The authors called for bold action on obesity and child poverty.

Key findings of the study were that 28 per cent of children are overweight or obese and that around 400 children and young people die in Scotland each year, with many of these deaths potentially avoidable.

The report also found that children who live in poverty in Scotland are more likely to be overweight or obese.

Inverclyde Labour’s 2012 election manifesto committed the council to working with partner agencies to improve the health of the population in general, through better housing and supporting individuals to improve their lifestyles through physical exercise, better diet and not abusing alcohol and drugs.

We also promised to bring a particular focus to reducing obesity among children.

We have delivered on this promise locally in a whole host of ways.
We have funded further substantial investment in new indoor and outdoor sports facilities. Every primary school has been given improved facilities, which means they are all now in a position to deliver the government’s target of two hours of quality PE a week.

On the back of this investment many schools have introduced the ‘daily mile’, like Kilmacolm Primary, pictured right, where children walk or run a mile a day, which helps reduce obesity levels and promote active lives.

In difficult financial times we have continued to fund our Active Schools and sports development team; subsidised pitch hire and training facilities for youth sports and free swimming for all of Inverclyde’s school children.

We have increased the subsidy for summer playschemes to keep charges affordable for parents.

We have massively improved the quality and range of play facilities across every community in Inverclyde to provide our children and young people with the opportunity for active play.

We have expanded breakfast club provision to all primary schools where there was an identified demand to give more children free nutritional breakfasts.

Last summer, literacy lunch clubs were piloted in three locations, providing lunches and engaging families in fun learning, with a focus on literacy. There will be four of these clubs run during Easter this year and another six over the summer holidays.

While reducing child obesity is of course a long term aim, there are some positive signs that these strategies may be starting to pay dividends.

Between 2013/14 and 2015/16 the percentage of primary one school children at risk of being overweight or obese reduced.

On a less positive note, child poverty in Inverclyde increased between 2012 and 2016.

While the council and its partners can help to mitigate the effects of poverty, we are doing this in the face of national policies, such as welfare reform, which exacerbate the issue in areas like Inverclyde where people are more dependent on welfare benefits.

We support families directly through a range of measures including discretionary housing benefit payments, crisis and community care grants, free school meals and transport, clothing grants and educational maintenance allowances.

We are also tackling fuel poverty by building new energy efficient homes and investing in energy savings measures in existing properties, as well providing advice to families on how to reduce their fuel bills.

Our financial inclusion services are doing sterling work in assisting families mitigate the worst excesses of welfare reform by maximising their entitlement to benefits.

Sustained reductions in child poverty will only happen over the longer term through raising attainment and getting more people ready for work and into work where they can earn a living wage.

Unfortunately the continuing austerity policies of the UK Government, and the cuts being made to local services by the Scottish Government, will make the objective of reducing poverty in Inverclyde all the harder to achieve.