Implementation and Monitoring Working Party meeting 9 February 2004

Present:
Rob Pickard (am only)
Maureen Howell
Lindsey Kearton
Jane Ludlow
Gaynor Bussell
Teresa Owen
Su Mably
Glenys Phelpstead
Andrea Partridge
David Smith
Ruth Fairchild
Jeremy Corson
Sue Lloyd (representing Eddie Coyle- am only)

Apologies:
Paul Walker
Sian Roberts Davies
Anne Bull

FSA Wales:
Phil Morgan (Chairman)
Steve Wearne (am only)
Sarah Rowles
Lorna Thompson
Hilary Neathey

Apologies were received from Anne Bull who had been called away to an urgent business meeting and Paul Walker who as Local Public Health Director for Ceredigion was required to attend a Management Team Meeting taking place that same day. Sian Roberts Davies had informed the secretariat that she was shortly to leave her post with the NFU and that she had asked them to consider a suitable replacement.

Phil Morgan introduced Sarah Rowles, a new member of the nutrition team at FSA Wales, and welcomed the Hungarian visitor accompanying Jane Ludlow.

The Chairman reported on actions appearing in minutes of the previous meeting and other matters arising, specifically:

• The Wales Centre for Health (WCH) report reviewing nutrition training for health and related professions had been circulated to all members, a couple of whom had commented.
• The AFAL (Award for Food Action Locally) award was formally launched at the December meeting of the FSA Welsh Food Advisory Committee. A number of members had offered their services on the award appraisal panel, namely Rob Pickard, David Smith, Andrea Partridge and Teresa Owen. The secretariat would be in touch to arrange for the panel to meet following the 27th Feb closing date for application. Action: Secretariat
• In the light of the review of information sources on healthy eating at the last meeting, FSA Wales is working with a group of local community dietitians to develop a booklet aimed at young, low-income consumers. This new resource will include case studies describing motivation to change, practical tips on eating healthily on a budget, and recipes to support this advice.
• The Welsh Assembly Government is joining forces with BBC Wales as part of a social action campaign to tackle overweight and obesity in middle-aged men. This will comprise a series of six 5-minute programmes followed by a half hour feature, with the emphasis on the balance of energy consumed and expended. These will be broadcast towards the end of March and will be supported by a road show during the first two weeks of April, primarily visiting Communities First areas. An information pack is also being developed in conjunction with the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF).
• There was a call for results from the FSA UK research on school meals to be circulated to members when this becomes available. Action: Secretariat

Given that 'Food and Well Being' had been launched exactly a year ago, reviewing progress over this period was considered opportune as this would feed into the business planning process of FSA Wales and would inform the future activities of the group. A paper had been prepared by the secretariat outlining the main activities against each of the milestones. The following points were made in addition:

• The Welsh Assembly Government had recently committed to the translation of the Department of Health ‘5-a-day’ leaflet detailing fruit and vegetable portion sizes.
• Where 'mums' were mentioned in the supporting paper, this should be changed to ‘parents’, and it would be useful to spell out acronyms. Action: Secretariat
• Members expressed some reservations over the revised Welfare Food scheme, 'Healthy Start', which forms the basis of one of the strategy actions. Particular concern was expressed over the relevance of the evidence base. Maureen Howell agreed to provide members with further clarification on implementation of the Act in Wales. Action: MH
• Translation of material to Welsh on the FSA website was limited. It was agreed that the Agency's Welsh Language Scheme advocated translation of a wider range of information than that currently available on the website. Action: Secretariat
• In light of the recent Welsh Consumer Council report 'The Good, the Bad and the Healthy' which highlighted the need for consistent messages on diet and health it was suggested that the WCH could usefully appoint a press officer. The Chairman pointed out that FSA was responsible for providing advice to the public on a healthy diet. FSA Wales had arranged media training for all community dietitians in Wales which was due to take place in February 2004. It was anticipated that the Assembly/BBC campaign would also stimulate wider media interest.
• Andrea Partridge reported on a HIF funded self-referral weight management programme being trialled in Flintshire which could inform future elements of the strategy. She agreed to provide further details on completion of the project. Action: AP
• Other opportunities for linking up with existing programmes for weight management and exploring alternative options for action included the British Dietetic Association 'Weight Wise' scheme (although translation of material to Welsh was an issue here), the Medical Research Council's initiative 'A leaner fitter future' and the BNF's guide to 'Shifting the balance' which appeared in the Jan 2004 edition of their education newsletter.
• Encouraging schools to adopt a whole school food policy was considered to be an important element of the strategy, and BNF have produced a guide to this in association with the Design and Technology Association. The Welsh Assembly Government is undertaking a review of health promotion policies in schools which will feed into the overall strategy evaluation. FSA Wales had already entered into a dialogue with Estyn, the school inspection body for Wales, regarding inclusion of a whole-school approach to healthy eating in the inspection framework.
• Following on from discussion of the various surveys of diet and nutrition in Wales reported at the last meeting, it was suggested that the BNF's 'Food Quiz' for school children could be adapted for the Welsh situation to provide information on progress against the strategy targets.

Following suggestion at the last meeting that they might be able to advise on availability of retailer data on food purchasing, the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) had been contacted. The IGD do not routinely collate such information, as this would duplicate data collected by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), a commercial company. Karl Jenkins and David Das from TNS had been invited to give a presentation on their data collection methods, consumer panel profiles and potential use of information in relation to tracking progress against the strategy targets.

The main points from this presentation were:

• Data is collected through two separate panels dealing with consumption and purchasing separately.
• In Wales, 1000 individuals are involved in the purchasing panel, and 430 individuals in the consumption panel.
• The purchasing data collected is also intended to give an overview of influences on purchasing behaviour such as promotional events and price.
• The consumption panel complete a 2 week food and drink diary every 6 months and complete an attitude survey covering BMI, diet, exercise, organic/GM food etc.
• Data can be broken down by age group, gender, social class, geography etc, but more sophisticated analysis can target key consumer groups who fit more than one of these groups.
• Although from separate panels, the purchase and consumption data can be interlinked through the attitude survey completed by both panels.

The Working Party discussed the potential use of this information in the context of the ‘Food and Well Being’ targets. It was concluded that much of the data could already be ascertained through existing surveys such as the FSA Consumer Survey and the NDNS surveys. There was however scope for revisiting the review of survey work prepared for the previous Working Party meeting, perhaps through formation of a sub-group specifically tasked with addressing this issue. This would facilitate identification of any gaps that the TNS data could satisfy. TNS agreed to provide a copy of their presentation. This will be circulated to Working Party members on receipt.
Action: Secretariat

Following on from the earlier agenda item concerning the strategy progress, Phil Morgan asked the Working Party to consider which parts of the action plan merited priority attention in the year ahead. The following were suggested as potential areas for progression:

• Development of whole-school nutrition policies and the role of school inspection systems in encouraging these.
• Action points relating to older people and how these might best be managed given links with other relevant policy areas such as the Health Promotion Action Plan for older People.
• Other approaches to promoting cooking skills e.g. in a family setting
• Further evaluation of the suitability of existing surveys in terms of monitoring progress of the strategy.
• Consultation with key players on the proposed nutrition network for Wales (through conventions planned in North and South Wales- see AOB).
• Exploration of opportunities to engage the food industry in actions to improve access to healthier diet.
• Nutrition training for project leaders involved in community food projects- this could form part of the Certificate in Food Hygiene training.

The secretariat had circulated the WHO 'Draft global strategy on diet, physical activity and health' to Working Party members. It was considered this could be used judiciously in supporting the 'Food and Well Being' action plan but could also be used to fine tune the action plan in the future as it was recognised this was not a static document.

Phil Morgan indicated that workshops were being planned for May 2004 to update key players on actions falling to FSA Wales and the Assembly, to provide a forum for them to report progress on the action plan 'for others', and to consult on the nutrition network for Wales.

Hilary Neathey reported that the 'Catering for Health' evaluation was expected soon, and that the secretariat would circulate this to members in due course.
Action: Secretariat

It was proposed this should be early June as a follow-up to the planned nutrition fora.