 I call on the Minister Eileen Campbell to speak to you and move the motion. Thank you, Presiding Officer. The closure of our recent consultation to create a diet and obesity strategy for Scotland provides real opportunity for Parliament to unite and consider how we collectively create the healthier Scotland that I know we all seek. The consultation generated significant attention, nearly 400 responses from a range of crime contributors, from members of the public to academics and health professionals to the food and drinks industry and everything in between. It is clear that this most pressing issue has captured the imagination and we are grateful to everyone who took part and we reflect on the contributions and will publish analysis soon. Of course, Presiding Officer, today gives Parliamentarians their chance to add their views and opinions too. It should come as no surprise that the consultation generated such interest. That interest echoes the growing recognition of Scotland's diet and obesity challenges, which require urgent attention. While, of course, there will be differing views and opinions as to the approach that we should take, what was clear is that the scale of the challenge that we face and the need to act decisively was widely recognised. It is a view that is shared by the public more generally. Food Standards Scotland reported yesterday that 91 per cent of people think that obesity is a serious problem. While the issue is by no means new, what there is, Presiding Officer, is a new resolve to tackle it, galvanising professions, the public and politicians alike. Just as we have in the past with alcohol and tobacco, we will need to rise to the challenge taking decisive action to bring about long-needed change. The issue will not fit neatly into an electoral cycle, nor, as Miles Briggs's amendment makes clear, one ministerial portfolio or one discipline. As a nation over the past 17 years meeting our dietary goals has remained stubbornly challenging, so, too, was tackling the associated health inequalities. In its new situation report, Food Standards Scotland reported that two thirds of people living in Scotland continue to be either overweight or obese. 29 per cent of children are still at risk of becoming overweight or obese. Around 32 per cent of adults living in the most deprived areas are obese compared with just 20 per cent in the least deprived areas. Separately, the primary 1 BMI measurement shows that obesity rates in the most deprived areas are 14 per centage points higher than in the least deprived areas. Poor diet affects all of Scotland, but, as so often is regrettably the case, the people who are most impacted by poor health outcomes are those facing most inequalities in life. We are all familiar with those stats, but there doesn't have to be an inevitability about this if we can get it right. We all know that health consequences of obesity are life-changing, sometimes life-threatening. Obesity is the second biggest cause of preventable cancer behind only smoking. Food Standards Scotland's recent report also illustrated stark realities of the common diseases where diet was a contributory factor. 6,697 deaths from coronary heart disease, 2,181 deaths from stroke, 31 per cent of primary 1 children had obvious dental decay. The cost of obesity and poor health is unsustainable. It is costly to our economy, it is costly to our NHS but, more importantly, it is costly to individuals and their sense of health and wellbeing. The biggest frustration of all is that all of this is largely preventable. For those reasons, we require a new strategy for Scotland that benefits everyone, but does have a steely focus on tackling inequalities and also focuses on reversing the trends of childhood obesity to ensure that children get their best start in life and their chance to flourish. Our consultation focused on three strategic priorities, transforming the food environment encouraging and supporting the adoption of healthier and more active lives and building strong leadership and exemplary practice within both the public sector and food and drink industry. In terms of promotion, we recognise that we need to be bold in tackling the overall environment that makes it difficult to make positive dietary choices and instead incentivises taking less healthy options. The reality is that so much of modern-day life makes it hard to maintain a healthy weight whether because of the energy density of today's food, our increasingly sedentary lifestyles or the constant stream of messaging encouraging us to consume more food and drink. That is why we announced as part of our programme for government that we would be progressing world-leading measures to limit the marketing of products high in fat, sugar or salt, which disproportionately contributes to ill health and obesity. Other measures on marketing are needed. The food environment is not just shops where we buy food. It is all around us, from adverts on bus stops and billboards to the food outlets in our high streets and near our schools. We are all susceptible to advertising and children, though, are especially impressionable. That is why we are continuing to urge the UK Government to take action to restrict all advertising until after the 9pm watershed and that, if they do not make headway on that, they should provide us with the powers to do this ourselves. However, in the context of the powers that we have, we need to make sure that we maximise all of their levers to ensure that we can make the impact that we all want and expect. Therefore, the places and spaces that we live in also need to be conducive to healthy lifestyles. That is why we will continue to build on the good work that has been taken forward through the place standard to explore what more we can do in developing healthy, sustainable communities. We will continue to promote innovative ways of keeping active in everyday life, including promoting the daily mile, a simple yet really effective way of ensuring that people become more active in their daily routines. We will be increasing the active travel budget to encourage more people to be more active, including when they travel to work or to school. We will continue to support initiatives such as football fans and training, which has since 2010 helped to change lives and transform lives to ensure that much more healthy lifestyles are adopted. However, there is much more that we can do to support people who are already overweight. In addition to the funding that we provide health boards for weight management services, we will invest an extra £42 million over the next five years to reduce the rates of type 2 diabetes. We will also continue to have a focus on the early years, understanding that early intervention is key to instilling healthy habits that last a lifetime. We must be alert to the opportunities that are present, such as the roll-out of 1,140 hours of early learning and childcare and the opportunity that we have there to ensure that those children get their opportunity to understand the importance of healthy food choices. We will also build on the good work that is happening now, illustrated last week through our Scottish maternal and infant nutrition survey, which found that 43 per cent of mums are continuing to breastfeed up to six months after birth, compared to 32 per cent in 2010. There has also been a welcome increase in breastfeeding in the most deprived areas and among young mothers, but there are still significant inequalities, and we want to make sure that everyone has the best start in life recognising the importance of early nutrition. We will be investing more resources into supporting, protecting and promoting breastfeeding as part of our current programme for government commitment. Businesses also have an important role to play, and to help them to do that, we will support businesses to innovate. The soft drinks industry has taken great strides in advance of the UK's government's soft drinks lefli, and that shows what can be done, but we recognise that there will be significant challenges for SMEs. Therefore, we will continue to develop a package of support, investing an initial £200,000 to help them to make their products healthier. We will also work with industry, enterprise networks and universities to ensure that the considerable existing resources for innovation also support that work. Similarly, the out-of-home sector also has the potential to play a really significant role in driving improvements to the Scottish diet. Food School under Scotland is developing a strategy that will include calorie labelling and portion control. As part of that, it will consult later this year on this issue, and it would encourage all of our parliamentarians who have an active interest in this to promote this consultation and to take part where they can. I am determined that we deliver a bold, innovative and effective strategy, one that draws on the evidence that we have to enable more people to have healthier, happier lives and to help to relieve pressures on our NHS. There is a growing consensus that there is a serious diet and weight problem that needs to be tackled in a much more concerted way than before. It is a consensus that includes this Parliament that goes much wider beyond it. It is also a journey that we are about to embark on that we have to recognise won't be easy. While there is clear consensus in statistics, in the work that Food Standards Scotland has been taking forward, there will be challenges, sensitivity and many questions. We need to recognise that this will impact on many people's lives. It is not an issue that impacts upon some people somewhere. It is going to impact on everyone in all our communities, so we need to recognise that there will be challenges and we need to remain alert to them. We then need confidence in our ambition and a desire to succeed. In a country of just 5 million people, we also need to work together. I said that it would be a challenge and it will be a challenge that I think we will all relish because the goal is ultimately a healthier Scotland. Our innovative plans to limit the marketing of products high in fat, sugar or salt will be an important part of our forthcoming strategy. I very much welcome the open letter from the four health spokespeople in this Parliament putting on record their support for this measure and their call for us to be bold and ambitious in our strategy. Sincerely, I look forward to hearing the views of all members today, which I shall reflect on as we develop our new strategy on diet, activity and healthy weight, which we intend to publish in the summer. Sincerely, I really appreciate the consensus that has been built around that and I look to continue that consensus as we build a strategy that I hope, ultimately, the whole country can be proud of. Thank you very much. I call on Wells Briggs to open for the Conservative Party. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I welcome today's debate. I'd also like to thank those organisations that have provided useful briefings for today, including Cancer Research UK, the BMA Diarrhitas Scotland Witch and Obesity Action Scotland. I believe that there is a significant degree of consensus in this chamber in terms of recognition of the extent to the challenges that we face as a country and how we can move forward in tackling this public health crisis. As the minister has outlined, it is a crisis that we are rapidly starting to have to deal with. It is a huge concern to all members that two thirds of all Scots are overweight and that we have one of the worst obesity records in the OECD, with now 29 per cent of adults being classed as obese. Meanwhile, almost 30 per cent of our children are at risk of being overweight with 14 per cent now at risk of obesity. Most weight in obesity indicators have flatlined, or indeed in relation to mean BMI, worsened in recent years, despite many interventions and initiatives and substantial corresponding investment. It is clear that we need to see and have a real look at how far more far-reaching, effective and a broader approach can help to change this. The negative health and financial impacts of obesity cannot be overstated. Simply, Scotland's obesity crisis means that too many of our fellow Scots are dying prematurely. It is a massive driver of the sad reality that life expectancy in Scotland is lower than in other nations of the UK and amongst the lowest, the very lowest anywhere in Western Europe. As well as leading to hypertension and heart disease, obesity is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking and is linked, as we have already heard, to 13 types of cancer. Being overweight in obesity is the most significant risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, accounting for 80 to 85 per cent of our overall risk of developing the condition. As we know, the prevalence of diabetes has soared in recent years by 40 per cent in Scotland. Average healthcare costs for people with a BMI of 40 are at least twice those for people with a BMI of 20. The annual cost to our NHS of dealing with the unhealthy weight in obesity is now estimated to be around £600 million. The total economic costs of obesity to the nation once wider economic impacts are taken into account may be as high as £4.6 billion every year. I want to take this opportunity to commend Cancer Research UK for the excellent work that they have undertaken through their scaled-down cancer campaign in raising public awareness of how obesity is linked to so many cases and different types of cancer, including breast, bowel, pancreatic and esophageal cancers. It is vital that the public has a vision made available and that so many people can understand fully the very real health risks of being overweight and obese. Until recently, only a quarter of Scottish adults were aware that being overweight could cause cancer. Cancer research work in this area has been important and timely. Turning to the Scottish Government's consultation, the Government's consultation focused on seven key areas and whilst we cannot give our support to all of the policy proposals contained to a number and to plans that we think can make a significant difference to help to change behaviours. As such, we support moves to restrict multi-buy promotions on junk food, high in fat, sugar and salt. As a course, a number of supermarkets have already undertaken to do so themselves. Food Standards Scotland has identified that almost 40 per cent of all calories, 40 per cent of total sugar and 42 per cent of fats and saturated fats were purchased on price promotions in 2014-15. Consumer spending on price promotions in the UK is now the highest in Europe and 50 per cent of high fat foods, high fat sugar and salt are purchased in this way. The potential reach and impact, therefore, of restricting such promotions is clear and we support. As the minister mentioned, Poland commissioned by Cancer Research UK demonstrated that nine in 10 parents believed supermarket promotions impacted on what they buy. It has indicated broad public support for restrictions, with two thirds of Scots supporting this proposal and three in four people wanting to see the balance of promotions shifted towards healthier items. Recent polling by which also suggests that a substantial majority of the public want to see more supermarket promotions that offer applied to healthier food choices. There are clearly market opportunities for supermarkets and retailers to move towards that. A part of a vision where the consumer can have access to the most relevant and useful information about their food in order to be able to make the best informed choices. We also support moves to explore how labelling can be strengthened and improved in this area. The Scottish Government must, of course, also work with the business community and ensure their concerns and needs are addressed in any changes towards labelling processes and how they are implemented. I also hope that retailers will step up to the mark to address and tackle this public health issue. We know that retailers have spent significant sums of money on consumer behaviour in the past, mapping in stores. I hope that they can step up and look towards how we can provide a healthier retail environment in the future. It is a future health of their customers, after all, which will benefit from that. The consultation has a number of individual policies that we can support and which are important and welcome. We believe that tackling obesity will also involve wider societal and cultural changes that are needed to reduce the over-consumption of unhealthy foods. We also believe that a cross-portfolio, as my amendment points towards, is vital. Our amendment for today's debate makes it clear that the health departments and ministers will be working hand-in-hand on this, and I welcome what the minister had to say on that, as we look to embed preventative measures into cross-portfolio work and cross-policy areas. The Health and Sport Committee is often frustrated that many of the policy interventions that we hear health experts advocating are the responsibility of the education and planning ministers and sit out with our remit and other committees' remits. I really do hope that we will see a cross-parliament and a cross-government action on this issue. The cross-portfolio approach must also include the Scottish Government working constructively with local government and with all those third sector organisations that have a stake here, an important role in our communities. When debating obesity, we also cannot ever afford to forget that we need to focus on promoting healthier, active lifestyles and exercise. My colleague Brian Whittle will have a lot more to say on that as he closes the debate for us this afternoon. Clearly, we need to look at how calories are burned off by an individual as well as calorie intake and look to ensure that everyone has the access to the physical activities of their choice and within their local community. We are a sporting nation, and from the fantastic sporting success that we witnessed at Murrayfield at the weekend, the question that we need to ask ourselves is how do we inspire Scots to undertake more physical activity in whatever form that might actually take? I think that for most people in Scotland, indeed, many MSPs in this chamber will have woken up with a bit of a sore head on Sunday. For many, they may have even woken up with last night's kebab, who knows, but how we develop a national interest in sports from observational speaking for other members, how we develop this from a national observatory role into something that we all look to be active is something that I think we really need to look at and I hope will be developed within the strategy. How we plan our communities and community spaces has a very important role in helping to achieve that. Many community sports clubs, as the minister outlined, are already undertaking very constructive community initiatives to open up facilities to their supporters and local communities. I'd very much like to pay tribute to them, especially those in my own Lothian region, but there's still much more we need to do to be able to achieve this. On my way to work today to the Parliament, I noticed a new exercise bike which has been located by the council in Royal Terrace Gardens. I've noticed this a few times. I've never seen anyone actually using it and where that's mapped in terms of people being able just to go and do 15, 20 minutes but exercise is an opportunity. On a recent visit to Avimore Sports Hub, the Health and Sport Committee of this Parliament we're told about how the hub had developed 15-minute staggering timetabling to allow parents and grandparents to drop off their children and grandchildren in activity classes before them being able to then go on to classes themselves. This sort of joined-up approach is something we need to develop across government and across our sports facilities. My Lothian colleague, Alison Johnstone, has highlighted a number of occasions the fact that so many people do not jump from low levels of activity to exercise classes and find that a real challenge. When we were in Avimore... Mr Gregson needs to bring your remarks to a conclusion. When we were in Avimore, we heard more on this. In terms of our amendment, I very much support what the Scottish Government is putting forward today. We hope that we will work constructively as a Parliament and Government to take forward this cross-portfolio approach. I support the Government's motion and I move amendment in my name and hope that it will be supported across the chamber. I apologise to everybody for shortening the time today. I move amendment in my name and Labour will be supporting the Government motion and the Conservative amendment. I welcome this debate today. Obesity is a modern-day public health crisis. It is one that would be unrecognisable to Scots who lived through rationing in the Second World War or a century before that when church parishes had poor houses from Shetland to Selkirk to look after the hungry and the dispossessed. I share the view of Martin Cohen of the University of Hertfordshire who stated and I quote, that obesity is not just a matter for the nutritionist, rather it's a product of social inequality and requires a collective social response. As we've heard, obesity has been on the rise for decades. Changes to our lifestyle have had an inescapable repercussions for our diets. The increasing fast pace of life has meant that we are more likely to buy quick and easy meals, frequently trading nutritious food for efficiency. And we're also more prone to eat on the go, grabbing a meal deal from the supermarket or even maybe and getting a takeaway for dinner. So this shift in our eating habits inevitably means we are taking in more sugar, salt and fat than we need. And to compound the problem, as the minister has said, the business of life means that fewer and fewer of us are actually active enough to burn off the calories. In 2016, only 64% of those over 16 are estimated to have reached their recommended amount of physical activity each week. The result is a country which is one of the worst records in the OACD. So the consequences of this are that obesity is severe. The issue is less of a ticking time bomb and more of a grenade with its pin already pulled. For individuals being overweight, cancer has numerous increased chronic health risks and reduces life expectancy by at least an average of three years. As Miles Briggs has said, I commend the work of the Cancer Research UK and Obesity Action Scotland who are working extremely hard to raise awareness both here and with the public of the link between being overweight and developing various cancers. Presiding Officer, as the Parliament's former diabetes champion, I'm also encouraged by the Government's focus in the consultation document on Scotland's growing type 2 diabetes epidemic. Being classed as the beast of our weight, it's a significant contributing factor to developing type 2. With our obesity crisis, it's unfortunately no surprise that figures of the condition make for bleak reading. Over 257,000 people in Scotland are diagnosed with type 2, and a further 500,000 are at risk of developing the disease. With a diagnosis of type 2, can come serious complications, including the risk of blindness and amputation, beside the clear and grave implication on individuals quality of life. This growing condition is just one example of the strain that obesity places on our national health services resources. Almost £1 billion has spent on the NHS on tackling diabetes, but about 80 per cent of that goes in managing affordable and avoidable complications. The Government's proposal to invest in weight management programs with long-term goals is thus welcome. Diabetes Scotland has raised concerns to me that budget cuts to teams currently collecting clinical data could significantly undermine assessment of the programme and therefore urge the Government to seriously consider how they will support the existing resources. Talk of precise targets and desired outcomes is not only useful if evaluation is possible. When faced with the complexity of our obesity problem, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Some precise nurses may longingly hark back to the good old days when our food was less processed and children played outside rather than sitting indoors playing football manager. But nostalgia is not the solution. The Government's consultation proposals recognise that, to be successful, any strategy needs to help people to make better choices by changing the environment within which we operate. It is good to see the Government seriously considering how advertising and promotion of food, high in fat, sugar and salt can be restricted. Key to such an approach will be not just to negatively restrict unhealthy foods, but to make the option of balanced diet more practical. Furthermore, the growth of out-of-home eating means that any strategy needs to have a consistently strong approach when it comes to labelling and marketing of foods by restaurants and takeaways. However, the environmental shift needs to encompass more than just our food culture. Although the nature of this public health challenge may look modern, under the surface the root causes are the same old story. Poverty, social deprivation and inequality are significant contributors to being overweight and it is the least a well-off who are most at risk. For example, a quarter of all children living in our most deprived areas are at risk of obesity compared to only 70 per cent in the least deprived areas. The problem was captured in the Health and Sport Committee report in 2015 when it stated, I quote, "...a boy born today in Lensley, East and Barnisher conspect to live to 82. Yet, but for a boy born on eight miles away in Calton in the east end of Glasgow, life expectancy may be as low as 54 years, a difference of 28 years or almost half as long again as this whole life." Our health inequalities are in fact just inequalities. They cannot be explained away purely as food choices that individuals make. As food prices have risen it has become harder for families on a tight budget to buying meals that are both filling and nutritious and evidence shows that consumers want to buy healthier food so regulation of product promotions needs to be more ambitious. The mere reducing the number of unhealthy foods and offer should also seek to make healthy products more affordable but placing restrictions on the formulation sale and advertising of food products is beneficial but it's also complex and tricky. Controlling the number of food outlets near schools might be something that the minister might want to respond to particularly the local authority licensing of mobile traders and also the planning system should consider how community spaces can encourage physical activity by being welcoming and unsafe. Overall, the Government proposals for a fresh approach to tackling obesity are positive. The hope is that those proposals are now turned into a strong practical strategy that's clear targets and systems of evaluation. The T to tackling obesity is seen as not just a problem for individuals and families but a wider social problem similar to educational, underachievement or criminality. Poverty not individual choices is the driver of the problem. That's only fundamental societal change that fights and equality will cut the guardian knot of widespread overindulgence. Thank you very much Mr Stewart. We move now to the open debate. Speeches of five minutes please. Five minutes this afternoon. Sandra White to be followed by Anil Wells. Thank you very much. I don't mean to be too harsh but we have to sensational but I really think we have to tell the truth what's actually happening at this moment in time and we really need to educate people that being overweight can literally kill you. It's got to be said that being overweight can literally kill you. It can lead to high blood pressure. It can lead to strokes. It has already been mentioned by Dave Stewart regarding type 2 diabetes and all the complication that brings with it which Dave Stewart has already mentioned and also that other colleagues will mention that too. I think we've got to be quite harsh and educate people to realise that being overweight has all these other implications to future health. Not just to start with the younger people but obviously people of my age and others as well. It's not too late to change your diet and be healthier as well. I really welcome this debate and listen to the contributions as well. When you look at the recent study from the Scottish Health Survey two thirds of Scots are now obese overweight. Only a fifth of adults eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables and probably one of them as well so I'll take a lesson from that. In my recommended levels of physical activity needed to prevent health risks in later life are only being met by 31 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women are quite startling facts. The health committee which I've only just became a member of produced a paper and they said that Scotland had a policy framework which could enable the Scottish Government to make decisions and this is in italics that may initially be unpopular when introducing such as new initiatives. I'm glad that the Scottish Government decided that they may be unpopular because it's something we do absolutely need to bring forward and others in minister 2 and I'm very pleased that they've taken on the restriction discounts on junk food minimum alcohol pricing even restricting car use making it more active travel and obviously the facts and salts and takes in foods as well. If it's being unpopular which brings us a Scotland which is healthy and the lives of our children are much improved I'm quite happy to be more unpopular than probably that sometimes I am deadies in the constituency and certainly support everything that's in the Scottish Government's strategy. Now there's various strategies going on throughout the country but I want to concentrate on some of the issues in my particular area and this is great in Glasgow health board already being mentioned by the minister live active exercise referral schemes you can go to your GP, your health visitor you can ask to be referred and you can be put forward through a programme of confidence building it gives a more positive lifestyle changes and it's a one to one catch up with individuals and you get shown through the activities that your life can actually be much better as well. That's one of the things and also we have the free and access Glasgow Kelvin participants can actually go along too in my constituency in Northwoodside hall or Kelvin hall as well so there's two or three different things too and the weight management is also with the local initiative as I've already mentioned too it's linked with the live action scheme various other areas in my constituency Woodlands community development trust a fantastic initiative supporting Woodlands within the Kelvin constituency or without and I want to make this point that it's really important when you live in an area such as Glasgow city centre or the west end or party or whatever when it's all tenemental property we're lucky in Glasgow we've got the parts but we're in a tenement building it's very difficult to have community gardens and I want to come on to Woodlands community garden which is a fantastic initiative the project it's got 50 raised beds local people can grow their own food they cook with their own food it's an absolutely fantastic initiative perhaps we should be looking at more allotments or monies for allotments as well or throw that open to the minister as well and the garden itself is a fantastic therapeutic space school kids go nursery kids as well the community cafe there as well First Minister visited the community cafe a couple of weeks ago this is open to everyone and the real strength is that everyone joins in there's no distinction between the two refugees come along and get fed there as well so it's an absolutely fantastic initiative they take the food that they grow in the community gardens and they teach the folk to cook that can't cook and there's no difference between them and I know I'm getting looked at and I certainly will finish off well, Presiding Officer, I know I've got five minutes what I'm just saying is if we're going to be in popular we've got to be in popular to make sure that we embrace a healthier lifestyle but there's other things on the ground going on that we can put into it as well thank you very much, Presiding Officer thank you for betraying what I'm doing here with my looks Annie Wells, we're followed by Kenny Gibson Miss Wells please thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer Scotland's obesity epidemic comes something we can no longer ignore from an individual perspective many of us worry about our weight on a daily basis with two thirds of Scotland concerned about their weight or the weight of someone in their family whether we're made to feel ashamed of our bodies by images in the media or confused by the ever changing guidelines on what we should and shouldn't be doing to maintain a healthy weight it's clear that as a country we've become lost along the way two thirds of adults aged 16 and over in Scotland are overweight at almost a third of children are at risk of being overweight we know that repercussions are great both in terms of health and the cost to the NHS and setting an ambitious national strategy is therefore vital and one that embeds a focus on health eating and physical activity across all government portfolios this is why the Scottish Conservatives support the Scottish Government on this issue in relation to the following areas with the estimated that 110 tonnes of sugar are purchased on price promotion every day in Scotland the equivalent of 4.3 million chocolate bars and that 50% of high fat sugar and salt products are bought this way it is right that the strategy looks to restrict price promotions and looking beyond the food we consume at home and the fact that eating out can contribute up to 25% of calorie intake we also support the improvements to labelling we also support the exploration of how changes to planning could have a positive impact on our food choices and supporting small businesses in adapting new healthy food manufacturing opportunities as they become more apparent the biggest challenge I believe is creating long-term cultural change addressing our relationship with food and encouraging people to make active healthy decisions this should not always be because the choices have been limited but because we understand and appreciate the value of health eating from an early age and key to this as Miles has touched upon his education and a cross portfolio approach that embeds this ethos into everyday thinking to supplement this of course is improving physical activity rates from an early age something your healthy lifestyle has been detailed last year at present 24% of children are not meeting the current to moderate vigorous physical activity guidelines a statistic that increases to 36% amongst adults and not only is physical activity one of the best things we can do to improve our physical health it's proven to improve our mental wellbeing mood and self-esteem surely all can just live to making health eating choices linking to this idea is something I really believe we are not talking about enough when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight and that is taking into consideration the psychological factors linked to our eating habits it's really easy amongst statistics and strategies to forget that bad food choices are often made knowingly many of us are desperately want to lose weight and we know roughly how to do it but it's a real struggle in some serious cases Dr David Blane recently pointed out in a newspaper there is quite a large number of adults where there are large psychological components to obesity often the other situations of adversity in childhood are other stresses that someone has been under which has led to overeating as a coping mechanism and furthermore as I alluded to in my introduction many of us are crumbling under the pressure of society which bombards us with images of a perfect body distorting our perception of healthy and making it difficult to motivate ourselves to achieve long-term sustainable lifestyle changes and I'd like to ask the Scottish Government how it seeks to widen the focus of the strategy to take into account the psychological factors influencing our eating habits and the final point I'd like to make today is the need to focus on how socioeconomic factors affect weight is embedded into the strategy adults from deprived areas are more likely to be overweight, obese or obese and children in the most deprived areas are 8 per cent more likely to be overweight or obese than those from the least deprived areas I would like to ask the minister for further detail on how the strategy will prioritise work with families and poverty and in low incomes to ensure that we do not have these disparities and to finish today I would like to repeat my support for a national strategy that seeks to address one of the greatest health challenges facing Scotland at the moment and only by working together and embedding health eating and physical activity into our nation's ethos can we achieve the long-term cultural change required to make Scotland a healthy weight nation Thank you very much I remind members to use full names in the chamber it's easily forgotten but please do so I call Kenneth Gibson to follow Joanne Lamont Adoxically, while quality food and produce is something for which Scotland is renowned worldwide obesity is now one of the major causes of ill health here in Scotland but diets can often leave much to be desired earning us an envial position as one of the heaviest nations in Europe people have a healthy weight and now in the minority only 35 per cent of Scottish adults and sadly I am not one of them there is no quick fix to a single piece of legislation to change this instead significant effort is now required to rise from policy change to shift into societal behaviour in order to ensure a healthier future for Scotland of course for mylenia most people in most countries around the world struggle to have enough to eat indeed a century ago or more corporalence was seen as a sign of health and wealth and now the opposite is true rises in obesity have largely been driven by the increased availability of affordable and accessible food and drink high in salt saturated fats and sugar combined with an increasingly sedentary and time-stressed lifestyle therefore in addition to individual effort cultural and environmental changes which determine what people buy and what people eat are needed to help to tear excess weight gain support individuals to maintain a healthy weight and encourage people of all ages to exercise more even if just by walking while promoting active travel obesity can reduce average life spans by a decade or more and have serious and debilitating consequences for mental health such as cancer type 2 diabetes, strokes and depression it also results in an astonishing economic burden costing NHS Scotland 600 million a year significantly reducing productivity in the Scottish economy obesity is now one of the biggest public health challenges that we face as a nation very significant yet preventive impacts on every aspect of society to successfully tackle this we must be fully aware of the risks that come with being overweight and obese and a commitment to change some measures are already in place and the Scottish Government has invested 12 million over the last 5 years on programs to support and encourage healthy eating with campaigns such as supporting healthy choices and eat better, feel better the next step towards a healthier Scotland is a new Scottish Government diet and obesity strategy, a healthier future action and ambitions on diet, activity and healthy weight which includes bold measures designed to deliver a new approach to diet and healthy weight management and power change and help people make healthier choices the programme for government aims to provide more weight lost support for the 300,000 people in Scotland with type 2 diabetes a figure that doubled in just two decades and I commend David Stewart MSP for all the hard work that he's done in this area over a number of years and progress measures limiting the marketing of products high in fact, sugar and salt in 2016 Food and Drink bought on price promotion represented 36 per cent of all calories purchased in Scotland in fact, UK consumer spending on price promotions is the highest in Europe decisions made by consumers are often made automatically I'm sure the majority of us have fallen victim and returned from a shopping trip with unhealthy foods we'd not intended to buy simply because they were on offer the strategy represents a unique opportunity to reduce the wide-reaching influence price promotions have on consumer behaviour by welcoming the views of a wide range of stakeholders on current proposals, priorities and implementation methods this ambitious strategy seeks to revolutionise the food environment in Scotland I've heard many of these first hand while co-convening with Brian Whittle last week's Scottish policy conference keynote seminar, policy priorities for tackling obesity in Scotland at the Royal Society of Edinburgh which we chaired in our capacity as co-conveners of the CPG on improving Scotland health and beyond and that David Stewart is the other convener of that group I've heard many of the ideas from that seminar being taken forward Development of the much-needed strategy is testament to the fact that we are reassessing diet by utilising knowledge gains from tackling other public health challenges such as alcohol misuse and smoking and utilising the growing body of evidence on actions necessary to improve the health of the whole population I'm certain that the measures taken forward will ease the process of making health of choices on a daily basis by empowering change at both a national and personal level Presiding Officer, while developing this new strategy it is also important to continue promoting community health projects which support people across Scotland in making healthy affordable choices as well as promoting the vital role of an active lifestyle This support, such as that provided by community food networks, helps to deliver dignified services to individuals and communities for activities designed around cooking, growing and food education The programme for government that outlined our ambition to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up, be cared for and be healthy Therefore, by committing to delivery of the new strategy over the next five years and offering advice and support to parents, we will get closer to ensuring the healthier future that Scotland so desperately needs. After all, an obese child is around five times more likely to become an obese adult and we cannot afford to let obese to become the new norm on Scotland regardless of location or circumstances I'm sure that this progressive plan will be exactly what we as a society need to kickstart a positive change in with attitude and positive action towards diet, weight and healthy living Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer and I am welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate Although I have to confess a little unease about the whole debate around obesity and weight not just because I'm obliged to think through in order to make a contribution but I think there is a broader question here I cannot be the only person alive to the fact that alongside this debate on healthy weight today there is a member's debate, I think, tomorrow on the issue of eating disorders and so many of those eating disorders have developed out of body shaming cruel comments about some days size, we know I taught Lina Zavroni I was in the school when Lina Zavroni attended and she lost her life to an eating disorder and I suppose it's been something that's patterned as I have got older and more of an awareness around eating disorder and I think we have to be very careful about the language that we use when we're talking about healthy eating and weight and understanding fully the consequences for all too many, particularly for young people of the language around this question and there's a lot of people and I'm certainly one of them for whom the whole question of weight is personal and I, like many women in particular there would be a whole debate I think about why in particular women worry about their weight but it is something that has been part of our lives in a very personal way and we do know I know from my own childhood and I think as a teacher the way in which weight became a vehicle for bullying deeply ingrained in the classroom and a way in which we have to again understand the impact of that when we're talking about these questions so I don't in any way pretend that I'm an expert I can perhaps have been as many diets as others but I do want to make a number of observations about what I think is an important debate I understand the public health impact of this question the importance of understanding at that level the need to tackle the question of obesity there are good health messages that we need to get out across our populations on healthy eating on being active on exercise and on sport and it's important that we take the time to make sure that people are aware that these messages are not just for other people but I also think that it's important that we move beyond what I would say is a one-dimensional debate a worthy debate decontextualised taken out of government policy policy choices around spending and health and education and elsewhere it's important that we mainstream this debate into the general question of the wellbeing of our communities and understanding actually what is happening there and some of it is about choice and we have to understand what shapes those choices that people are not simply somehow malleable by the supermarkets or whatever and try how we combat against that I also think that we need to look and understand there have been many important health initiatives over many years which are now being rolled back in the early years of this Parliament there was important measures put in a local community level to encourage health eating to understand about cooking to understand about sport work that was done in after school in our most deprived community much of that has gone because of the financial constraints of the last period and we have to recognise that these things go hand in hand and it's also not always easy to take on board many of the sports mesh I never regarded myself as somebody as a sporty person while Brian Whittle was off winning gold medals some of us simply watched but in the 80s in particular the development of the fund run movement people like me put on running shoes and ended up running marathons because it was something that was seen as all of us could possibly do it was easy it was affordable and it was supported within our local communities by local authorities and other and we should learn from that too but I also think that it's important that we understand we need to see the dimension of inequality and disadvantage and health inequalities why are women in deprived communities more likely to be obese than men in deprived communities why are people in deprived communities more likely to be as obese as a schoolteacher I used to help run attendance groups and we worked with those who had a problem coming to school and we realised that the only thing they often had in common with each other was that they didn't come to school I believe that it's also true of obesity because one who is obese is obese for the same reasons and therefore the same solutions will not necessarily address their problems we need to think about how young people access sport does it need facilitating parents or are there ways in which community initiatives can support talented young people to access sport without relying on the parent with the car that too often is the division that develops very early doors within our communities we need to comment on this I think that we need to go gently we need to understand the importance of these issues but we can't back away from the importance of resources and I would make a particularly plea to the minister to ensure that local government is allowed to support these issues as well as the other things for which they are responsible I've been quite taller but I can't let people overrun by 20 seconds or so it takes from other people there's no time in hand Ash Denham to follow by Alison Johnson please the food environment that we live in today is very challenging we apparently need to make up to 200 food decisions every day and summarise I think sometimes in that moment that I have when you look at an orange and you just think peeling it is just a bit too much effort which obviously is wrong and even something as simple as buying a coffee can be fraught with risk because after all you know you're going to have to spend 5 minutes queuing up looking at the cake display 200 decisions can test even those with the strongest of willpower now I may have come a long way from my typical diet that I used to have as a 14 year old where lunch was usually a portion of chips and then I'd leave school, go to the local shop and buy some sweets to go with it and I think most people know that chips and sweets for lunch it isn't a great choice and they know that they need to eat more fruit, more vegetables and get some exercise the problem is although we often know what to do we don't seem able to do it so the strategy is timely to achieve that and clearly the food environment is usually important and it's possibly one of the missing links in converting that knowledge into action because if you're having junk food pushed at you constantly it's going to make it very difficult to resist it so extending the restrictions on junk food advertising for children therefore is very important and very welcome and I know from my own experience with things like multi buys that if you don't buy it from the supermarket and it isn't in your kitchen cupboards I'm rarely if ever going to go out to the shop to buy it later so the strategy also commits to 200 million for SMEs to reformulate their products in order to make them healthier which I think is very welcome but I would just raise a note of concern about that which can be seen in the case at the moment of fizzy drinks so to avoid the sugar tax manufacturers have reformulated but they've replaced the sugar in those products with artificial sweeteners and I'm quite concerned about the long term damage that these products may turn out to have especially for children we also need to be able to easily understand what we're eating that if something is marketed as being healthy that it actually is healthy and this is perhaps the other piece of the jigsaw that food labelling is key here it has to be easy for people to judge what the nutritional content of the product is and also that we are carefully regulating the additives and ingredients that go into our food for the products that they are producing and some of it we know is deliberately designed to be as addictive as drugs should we force the industry to become more accountable and properly label their food so people know what they really are eating I think we should I heard one scientist describe our food environment in many cases as not food they said but actually it was a food-like substance that our bodies don't actually recognise and that really stayed with me that's not just making us fat they're also making us sick too and I'll just illustrate why that's important using the example of bread something you'd think it was quite simple but similar to other food products it's a complicated tale now of processing, maximising shelf life reducing costs and ingredients that probably shouldn't be there in 1961 the British Bread Baking Research Association in Chorleywood devised a fast bread making method using lower protein wheat and an assortment of high-speed mixing and until the 1990s if you're eating commercial bread you're also ingesting potassium bromate which was then found to be potentially carcinogenic abandoned in the EU in 1994 it was then replaced by enzymes which are what make bread huge, soft, squishy and cheap and these enzymes which modern baking relies on are designated as processing aids and as such they don't have to be listed as an ingredient and it's a protein that speeds up the metabolic reaction of either bacterial, fungal, animal or plant sources and many of them are derived from substances that are not part of the normal human diet and they're known for causing occupational asthma in bakers currently these processing aids either as ingredients or additives bread manufacturers are able to disguise them legally quite legally their presence from the buying public but I think the public do deserve to know what is in the products that they're eating usually when they might be a risk to their health there is a cost to public health of these type of products and for example the recent rise in celiac disease and there may be a link there between the two so this strategy is a very strong package of measures and I'm very pleased to support it thank you very much I'll not look at toast the same again Alison Johnstone to be followed by Alec Cole-Hamilton please thank you Deputy Presiding Officer I'm going to pick up on the points Ash Denham is making as someone who is just about to finish sugar free February the cancer research initiative I have been it really encourages you to look at hidden sugars it's not the obvious things and I have a packet of a picture of a packet a loaf of bread on my phone which contains caramelised sugar I'm not going to name the offending seller but there we are this is a challenging area now the government's asking for for action to tackle obesity and I'm really happy to support that as the Greens health spokesperson I signed up to the joint letter from all opposition parties to the cabinet secretary earlier this month and I've previously written to the minister on the need to regulate price promotions are the green 2016 manifesto supported policies to make supermarkets healthier places to shop with action on those price promotions on advertising and product placement it also suggested help for local authorities to create safe and exciting outdoor spaces, more green spaces more walking and cycling routes and affordable and accessible sport centres I know the minister attended the national cross-country championships at the weekend where she will have seen thousands of people of all ages taking part in an activity that is probably about as affordable as it comes and can be enjoyed in many locations but she too will be aware that she too has just unveiled football club recently of the challenge that some of our young people have in accessing the places that they need to train for specific sports, whether that's football athletics training so this is a multifaceted area and I support the motions from Miles Briggs and David Stewart in that regard so when we're seeking this big change there's obviously always going to be those who's interests are challenged we shouldn't just ignore their concerns that's why ASDA might oppose restrictions on price promotions in ASDA often the protests of food manufacturers or big retailers are framed as a valiant defence of consumers which is why it was really helpful that consumer group which sent a briefing ahead of this debate with the results of consumer research recently conducted in Scotland only about 30 per cent of people thought food manufacturers and supermarkets were doing enough to help encourage people to eat better food as what consumers really wanted just over a month ago I hosted an event with the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health on their state of child health scorecard for Scotland and their report notes that child health in Scotland ranks among the worst in western Europe and it highlighted the really strong relationship between deprivation and weight a relationship that other colleagues have touched on in this debate for children in Scotland, overweight was 25 per cent where prevalence for those living in the least deprived areas was 8 per cent lower 17 per cent as Kenny Gibson noted this pattern is in complete contrast to the early 1970s where obesity prevalence was the other way round it was greater in children from the most affluent areas in the most deprived so this relatively new pattern needs new actions the government strategy talks about a broad range of actions that address a complex pattern that is true and welcome good health means tackling income inequality discrimination, prejudice it's not only about more nurses and hospitals the consultation also recognises that interventions need to rely less on individual choice and more on changes to the wider environment everyone wants to eat food that's tasty and nutritious let's make that the affordable and easy choice a spokesperson from Coca-Cola was recently in the news claiming that restrictions on price promotions have little evidence to support their efficacy well, in 2015 the Public Health England study on evidence for action on sugar reduction identified price promotions as having the most robust evidence base of all actions we know that food retail price promotions are more widespread in Britain than in anywhere else in Europe foods on promotion account for around 40 per cent of all expenditure on food and drinks consumed at home and their sugar products are promoted more than other foods and price promotions increase the amount of food and drink people buy by around one-fifth so they clearly work those are purchases that people wouldn't make without the in-store promotions and Annie Wells was quite right too we have to do another difficult thing which is to consider the emotional and psychological dimension food has can we develop a more psychologically informed approach to weight management this means working with people to address damaging patterns without stigmatising their weight a point well made by Johann Lamont because we know that stigmatising behaviours and conditions only damages people's health it makes them more psychologically vulnerable and less likely to seek the support that they need I touched on this topic in a debate on world cancer day because there is research linking obesity with adverse childhood experiences one that Parliament should explore further thank you very much I call Alec Cole-Hamilton I thank the Scottish Government for bringing forward this motion today and indeed the consensus that they sought to build by reaching out to opposition members in advance of it also welcome their efforts to maximise public response to the consultation whenever we have debates like this in this chamber I'm reminded of the words of Thomas Jefferson who said that the doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patient of the human frame in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease I think that he would be astonished and dismayed to learn that some 200 years later in a developed country like Scotland that we would see obesity in associated health conditions at their current levels 200 years and in many ways our diet is worse our engagement with physical activity poorer and our relationship with alcohol far more extreme the sincerity of the Scottish Government's commitment in this regard but this commitment has been shared by every First Minister, Health Secretary and their Opposition counterparts since devolution began and we have deployed but this commitment so it isn't working, something's not working we've deployed a significant body of scientific evidence innumerable publicity campaigns and I hope that the industry will respond and reformulate the human cost of this and the reality that obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer after smoking has been found wanting our nation's waistline has still proven utterly immovable so I have been struck that almost as we've heard in this debate that still two thirds 65% of adults in Scotland are overweight or obese a figure largely unchanged since 2008 that one third of children are overweight is a national scandal and that correlates to the fact that children in Scotland living in two most deprived quintiles are least likely to have a healthy weight delineating the link between social deprivation and obesity which we've also heard something of in this afternoon's debate and I saw that first hand in a detached youth work shift in Govan in 2012 when I was astonished to learn that actually there were no shops selling fresh fruit or vegetables within walking distance but it's alcohol as well and we've heard a lot again about this today also this is disproportionately a symptom and relates to poverty and deprivation in our society it's not exclusively so and I was quite interested to hear as I'm sure other colleagues in the health committee were this morning that the chief medical officer Catherine Calderwood revealed that actually highest rates of childhood obesity actually are to be found in NHS Shetland and in Dumfries and Galloway so we have to be bold and comprehensive and look at a whole system, whole country response to this and the chair of the BMA in Scotland Dr Peter Benny is quite right to state that the government has got some really good proposals here but that we still need to go further and he reaffirmed his view and his response that voluntary measures have failed and a heavier hand might be needed which for me is a liberal is actually quite instinctively uncomfortable but I think in this case is absolutely right that we support things like further restrictions on sales and price promotions on sponsorship and marketing particularly when it's directed at children we want to see requirements to provide calorific information and food purchase in shops and restaurants and the provision as the BMA called for of readily accessible specialist multidisciplinary weight management units so I welcome the motion today I really do but it is only part of the battle that the Government had it been accepted was coming from because healthy diet is only part of that answer to Thomas Jefferson's challenge the care of the human frame as he described it relies very much on the pursuance of physical activity and we're all very conversant in this place about the many barriers to why people can't use leisure facilities locally or they don't have them nearby but it's actually that there is another lens through which to look at that that was very struck in our sport for everyone inquiry in the health committee that that came to the fore that social isolation poor self-esteem, linked to mental health issues and infirmity can all contribute to poor levels of activity basic anxiety is also one of the principle barriers to strenuous activity embarrassment gets in the way but so too can it be manifest in other forms as well and I go on about this quite a lot but with good reason that fear of falling limiting effect on social orbit if you don't have confidence in the integrity of pavements and paths around you you won't necessarily have as much physical activity at your disposal as you would otherwise that 200 years after Thomas Jefferson first issued his prophecy we have in this country at least stalled in our efforts to realise it the cost of that increase is measured out and strained on our NHS and in life outcomes for people suffering from obesity so I thank the Government and assure them of our support for it tonight thank you I call Fulton MacGregor to be followed by Maurice Corry Mr MacGregor, please I remind the chamber that I'm the PLO to the health ministers and I welcome the Scottish Government's ambitious new healthy weight strategy and feel that it is a good foundation for tackling Scotland's obesity problem as others have said healthy weight adults are now in the minority in Scotland and almost a third of our children are in danger of being overweight or obese for action, our population will undoubtedly see an increase in health problems as the BCA action Scotland points out we actually live in an obesity-genic environment that promotes weight gain but I must also say that I must state that I support body positivity especially in our young people however there is a clear link between obesity and health issues such as type 2 diabetes, cancer and other chronic conditions that's why we must ensure that we have early prevention and children have a healthy and positive relationship with diet and exercise from a young age so that making informed and healthy choices is second nature to them. The new strategy empowers personal change and I also believe there needs to be a cultural change that the strategy contributes towards we need to tackle the link between poverty and obesity. Child poverty is a massive issue facing my constituency and Scotland more generally. In my area of Coatbridge and Crescent an old industrial heartland recovering from de-industrialisation and chronic unemployment from the 1980s hit with the second whammy of UK austerity. So while I welcome the very pleasant Mr Miles Briggs and his support for this strategy and indeed his amendment today I strongly believe that politically speaking that for those of us of a progressive nature we must always be aware of the context of Tory policy when we are implementing actions at a local level and elsewhere. There is clear evidence that health eating and steering clear of processed foods is difficult when you are on a tighter budget. It is great to see that the strategy takes us into account and will be supporting families and low incomes to help them to make more informed choices about calories, sugar, salt and fat. On the issue of fat specifically talked about less than sugar perhaps I think we need to get this right and I would like some of the strategy to focus on making the public more aware of what types of fat there are. I do not obviously have time to get into it here but I am strong in compelling evidence that we got it wrong to lump all fats together many years ago some including nuts, avocados and oils may indeed bring significant health benefits and benefits to weight and I would encourage anyone here to watch the BBC documentary Fats vs Cards which are checked I think you can still get on the eye player. It is very very interesting indeed. I would like to praise North Lancer Council for recently implementing a 5-day free-school meal policy. It is something that the SNP group supported for a long time when I was a councillor but credit where it is during the Labour Party now bringing it forward for implementation and there is to be a pilot in Coatbridge. I agree with the British Psychological Society that children and families do not just need information but they need practical skills based education in order to increase the likelihood of the information being translated into action and that could include more concrete skills training focus and providing all skill leavers with the ability to cook basic balanced meals. I have a bit of personal experience of this too last week we had our health visit appointment for our youngest boy just eight months and I was actually very impressed that the health visitor took the time to talk about sugar content and various foods and where it can be hidden and at the end of the visit I told her that it was the local MSP and I would be bringing it up in the debate because I got the opportunity so I think that she was quite happy with that but I think that it is important to praise the NHS Lanarkshire staff and I am sure others that they are actually promoting this already. Another local example I would like to give my praise to is North Lanarkshire's community learning and development Coatbridge locality team who have been running a winning workshop for around five years in partnership with the health board Midwights and health visitors. They run a four week course on the gardening diet and the children for their baby and family and it includes practical cookery lesson and it spoke to a number of participants of the workshop who commended the knowledge of the game regarding sugars, hidden sugars, fats and food labelling especially when out shopping in supermarkets so I think a lot were quite surprised. Touching on physical activity I think that we need to get this right from a young age. I welcome the Scottish Government's approach to building an active nation making our towns safer places to walk and cycle. Strategies like the national play strategy, the daily mail project and commitment to outdoor learning. Just yesterday my older boy came home with a note from nursery that he will be participating in the forestry commission's forest kindergarten where they state that it offers children the unique opportunity to play and learn outdoors, helping them to connect with their natural heritage. That seems like a really good place Excellent place to end. Thank you very much. I call Maurice Corry. I welcome the opportunity to contribute towards today's debate. It is important that we get the response to the issue to this country's health right. The statistics I believe do show the full scale and breadth of the issues that we face in Scotland and are worth emphasising again. Scotland has the lowest life expectancy in Western Europe and has been that way for more than 30 years. The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health found that the health of education of children and education in Scotland is among the worst in Europe. Having lived with my wife and children in Croatia when I was posted there with my job, we learnt to live a healthy life based on healthy foods, tennis, swimming and great sunshine. When returning to Scotland we had to adapt to little sunshine, freezing seas but we kept up with the fresh foods, the olive oil and exercise which has stood as well so far. Nevertheless, obesity is a problem that looks set to continue over generations as well. A recent report compiled by the health experts showed that millennials are on track to be the most overweight generation since records began. The real world impact that these statistics have on individuals is immense. A poor diet has been associated with 13 types of cancer. It has also been linked with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and a large range of cardiovascular conditions that can shorten life expectancy. However, it has, on society, cannot be discounted either. That is an issue that I believe the public expect us to resolve. A poll conducted on behalf of Cancer Research UK showed that 83 per cent of the public thinks that Scotland has a promise with obesity. I think that it is clear that the current state of our nation's health is one of the greatest challenges that is facing Scotland at the moment. I want to take a moment to note the work of my colleague, Brian Whittle, in this area. I think that his work in producing and releasing the Scottish health strategy in 2016 is excellent. It is a great document with input and insight from a number of well-respected sources. It does as he had hoped it would do in setting out a long-term alternative strategy for health, wellbeing and sport. In particular, it looks at the connection between having an active lifestyle, making healthy choices and the barriers to inclusion and participation, which lead to increasing health inequality and attributing it towards a widening attainment gap. I would recommend reading on that already done so. I think that it is also important to highlight again that it is not a problem that we can fix alone through the legislative process or by regulating what people can or cannot eat. I think that it is most important that we will be ensuring that the Scottish Government focus on educating the public and providing information that is required to make healthy choices without removing an element of choice from people. Removing the element of choice completely from individuals would, in my opinion, inhibit and discourage the real cultural activity, but, nevertheless, I welcome the introduction of domestic science into our schools in Scotland, which is a good step forward and has taught my son to cook healthy food now. I now want to take a moment to speak about the soft drinks industry, and it is an industry that I know very well indeed. Yes. Minister, it is just a point around removing choice. It is just more to make the point that actually some of the evidence suggests that because of higher prevalence rates of food being purchased on promotion suggests that, actually, we are not having a level playing field and our choice is not as straightforward as I think the member has articulated. Mr Corry. Yes, right. I look at the bug-off offers, in fact, for example, buy one and get one free with one of the issues that I know is being addressed by the retail industry, particularly the grossest federation at the moment. That is something that I know in the soft drinks industry that has been looked at very clearly, but it is a fair point to minister. I now want to make a moment to speak about the soft drinks. It is an industry that I know very well indeed from my past and the Scottish health survey data showed that 35 per cent of children drink non-diet soft drinks at least once a day. Scientific advisory committee on nutrition recommended that in 2015 soft drinks consumption should be minimised. In the 1960s, believe it or not, there were 54 soft drinks manufacturers in Scotland. Now there are only three, so hardly surprising that we know ourselves having a sweet tooth. In Scotland, we consume three times the recommended amount of sugar. An average of adults daily limit should be 30 grams. A typical can of cola has about 33 grams in it, meaning that by drinking just one can you'll exceed your average daily limit with one beverage. I won't tell you that one should never drink a can of iron brew or coca cola, but with everything else, it should be done in moderation. To this end, to be fair, I could add that soft drinks manufacturers have sought very hard to promote responsible consumption over the past few years, but we do love our soft drinks here in Scotland nevertheless. That's why I'm supportive of the UK Government soft drinks industry level and I'd like to see Scotland's share of the levy being spent to tackle childhood obesity as I think that this would have the longest and largest long-term effect in tandem with educating the consumer. Presiding Officer, in conclusion, tackling our nation's issues might be resolved in a single generation, but it's a fight that we need to have. This issue is not one that we can take into the long grass, but we have to tackle it now, take it head on and we have to win. I call Emma Harper to be followed by Alec Rowley. I am pleased to speak in today's debate as the motion highlights the food environment in which people live is one of the biggest challenges facing us. Many healthy choices are difficult when food high in fat, salt, sugar is cheap and it's widely available and heavily promoted. Colleagues have spoken about a range of issues, diabetes, heart disease, body image and diet and Johann Lamont has mentioned the eating disorders debate tomorrow which I'm participating in and actually sponsoring the post-debate event tomorrow in Parliament and I would encourage members to come and attend. As a member of the health and sport committee at the Scottish Government's forthcoming strategy backed by a 42 million investment over five years, we'll include world-leading proposals to restrict the promotion of junk foods as well as providing targeted services for those with or at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Back in November 2017 the cross-party group on diabetes which I co-convened with Dave Stewart to MSP, we heard from filmmaker Anthony Wittington who introduced us to his documentary focused on the topic of type 2 diabetes called Fixing Dad. Fixing Dad started as a documentary aired on the BBC about Anthony's father Jeff and in November 2013 Jeff's doctor suggested a foot amputation might be necessary in the near future due to his type 2 diabetes and obesity. The art of one foot had already collapsed as a result of Sharkot's foot which is a complication associated with diabetes and his other foot was developing ulcers due to poor circulation, another type 2 complication. Jeff's sons Anthony and Ian embarked on a mission to overhaul their dad's lifestyle and prevent the premature death forecast by his doctors. Over the course of the years filming we see Jeff's transformation from an obese night-time security guard to endurance cyclist and health activist. Jeff lost seven stones in weight almost £100 and he no longer requires any of his diabetes medications. Following the success of Fixing Dad the brothers are now making new episodes using the same format and they've had a big response from across the UK. I spoke with Anthony and his father Jeff at the cross-party group and have been in contact with him since and I'm impressed by the plans and passion to affect real societal change. The film's message is that real change may not be easy but it is achievable. Changing the habits of a lifetime isn't easy so it is important that the right support is in place and the Scottish Government's ambitious new strategy will empower everyone to make the right personal choices for themselves. The prescription for Jeff buys two sons and the evidence of sustained weight loss. It took a year, it indicates that a model of social prescribing can work. Social prescribing is defined as a means of enabling primary care services to refer patients with social, emotional or practical needs to a range of absolutely sure. Jamie Greene, please. I do thank him for taking intervention. My mother has type 2 diabetes and one of the problems that she faces is understanding the sheer complexity of the different amounts of diets that are offered to cure it. Do you have any views on how we could standardise some of the advice that's actually given to people with type 2 diabetes in terms of what the best diet could be for them? I don't know if that's a diagnosis that you're supposed to give them. I thank Jamie Greene for that intervention. I am not a dietist and I'm not a diet expert but I would recommend that anyone with difficulty with dietary advice seek the specialist information from a dietistic specialist in diabetes management. I'll continue with social prescribing and how it's defined. I see the evidence of the benefits of social prescribing in Dumfries where constituents Scott Manson and Carly Scrambler, who are both veterans of the armed forces and are qualified in exercise referral, have established their own gym called Rebuild. Scott and Carly's aim is to provide exercise, recovery and rehabilitation as part of social prescribing in their Rebuild body and mind gym. I support their goals and I have encouraged constituents to engage with Scott and Carly so that their knowledge can be shared and their skills can help to improve the health and wellbeing of many people who have said they don't feel comfortable for whatever reason going to gym. I'd like to encourage the Scottish Government, while examining their current draft strategy that might be strengthened in some way to look at part of the fresh action and the need to evidence how social prescribing is actually helping to improve the lives of people in Scotland. I call Alex Rowley to be followed by Stuart Stevenson and Mr Stevenson will be the last speaker in the open debate. Someone who is always trying to watch what I'm eating to lose some way, I do know how difficult it can be how difficult it can be to know what to buy, what to eat and indeed what is good for you. Therefore, despite the efforts of successive Administrations we still have issues in terms of the level of information that is available to people. We have for this debate received some excellent informative and very concerning briefs from many experts and organisations. The Cancer Research UK have said that obesity is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking and is linked to 13 types of cancer. Diabetes Scotland tell us that people in Scotland need to understand the risks of being overweight as they point out that prevalence of diabetes has increased by 40 per cent over the last 10 years. I repeat the point that Johann Lamont makes but I would also say that I think that there is a need for us to be more informative with the public. I was certainly taken aback by some of the information that has come forward over the last few days. Obesity Acts in Scotland say that obesity rates in Scotland are amongst the highest in the world. I would say, Presiding Officer, from the levels of information in these briefs, this debate is one of the most important that we have had awfully in terms of the future health and wellbeing of the Scottish population. Indeed, Cancer Research UK say that the Scottish Government's diet and obesity strategy presents a once in a generation chance to scale down cancer in Scotland. I therefore want to focus on what might be necessary to ensure that that final strategy is not just wishful thinking but an action plan for doing something to address those issues. In terms of action, there seems to be a consensus across most professionals and organisations that we need action and regulation to tackle price promotions of unhealthy food across the retail sector. Cancer Research say that Food Standards Scotland identified at nearly 40 per cent of all calories 40 per cent of total sugar and 42 per cent of saturated fats were purchased on price promotions in 2014-15. Consumer spending on price promotions in the UK is the highest in Europe. Double that of Germany, France and Spain. As the minister knows, times are hard out there for many individuals and many families. It is easy to see why people would be attracted to price promotions and therefore it would be easy to see why this is absolutely an area that the Government must take action on. Fulton Mackay also made the point about the levels of poverty, the grown levels of poverty that are accruing in Scotland. Much of that is not happening by accident. Much of that is happening as a direct result of UK Government policy. We need to again not just have warm words from members of the Tory Party in this chamber. We need action to stop the attacks on the poorest and most vulnerable in our communities. The Government must also do more to curb the number of fast food outlets. It is not a coincidence that there are more and more in areas where there are schools and in areas where there is long-term disadvantage and poverty. Over-provision is a material consideration of a licensing committee, for example, where a liquor licence has been applied for. We have the chance in the planning bill that is currently making its way through this Parliament to look at over-provision of fast food shops. That is one area that we should look at. In the time that I have left, I have spoken to the minister before about Fife and some of the projects that have been run between the sport and leisure trust in Fife and Fife Council. Social prescribing, as Emma Harper mentioned earlier, there are some really good projects out there, I am sure, right across Scotland. Those projects are struggling for funding as there is pressure on budgets. Therefore, if we are serious about tackling that, we need to ensure that exercise is part of that. Social prescribing is an excellent way forward. There are brilliant projects, as I say, but they need funding. Thank you. I call Stewart Stevenson, who is the last speaker in the open debate. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. David Stewart made a sideways reference to my seniority in this particular debate. Indeed, I am looking round the only member apart from perhaps someone in front of me who might remember rationing. Indeed, I was six years old. The ground is gradually opening up under your feet, Mr Stevenson. When I wrote this, someone else was in the chair, of course, but anyway. The bottom line is I was six when rationing, sugar rationing ended. Therefore, as a youngster, my palate was not used to having sweet things. There is a very important point in that rather amusing comment I make that how we eat in the very, very early days of our life will influence our preferences throughout our life. I have survived to the point where my blood pressure is 120 over 60, my heart rate is 72 and my respiration is running at about 20. More critically, I have been sworn into this Parliament on five occasions and on each occasion I have worn the same suit. However, now for the bad news. I am 30 per cent heavier than I was when I got married nearly 50 years ago, so it is not all good news. It is merely not as bad as it might be. I am afraid of that weight gain, of course. I must say probably most of it is fat rather than muscle. Brian Whittle, the most accomplished athlete in our number this afternoon would no doubt agree that muscle weighs more than fat. Perhaps there is a modest advantage. I just want to talk a little bit about the psychology of being overweight. We had a comment about the debate that we will have tomorrow on eating disorders. Of course they come both to cause people to be underweight and to cause people to be overweight. Being in possession of an eating disorder is linked to stress, it is linked to low self-esteem, it might even be linked to some degree of mental health. Some of the language used does not help. We have used the word junk food when we suggest to people that they are eating junk food. We demean them, we disincentivise, we make them feel bad about themselves because the word junk is not a nice word. I do not think that it is the kind of word that we should use too much. We have heard a little bit about labelling from Ash Denham, for example. I think that we need very vigorous roles. It is sometimes really quite difficult. I pick things up and look how many calories. In any tiny, tiny print it says that is for half the content of this packet and it is in tiny print. Or in some cases, even, it is a fifth of the packet. I want to see in 20-point print on the front of everything that is pre-packaged how many calories are in the packet. Then I can start to do meaningful estimation of what is going on. I think too that we talked about the outdoors and exercise. It is also worth saying that we can extend the eating habits of the young by just walking around. There is hydro food. We normally pick enough brambles that will do it for most of the year. They go in the freezer. There has been a huge crop of wild raspberries in our area. There are mushrooms out there. When I want something sweet when I am in the country, I pick up a clover flyer and just stick it in my mouth and it is not that just lovely. There is seaweed not far away, tree resin and nettles are an excellent thing to add to things like mints and stews and so on and so forth. Of course, when they are cooked they have no adverse effect whatsoever on one's palate. We have talked a bit about salt. Salt is sodium chloride. Of course, it is possible to buy formulations of salt that have potassium chloride which are much less harmful to the metabolism while giving exactly the same flavor benefits. We have had a little bit about alcohol. I must confess to you here and now. I reckon that alcohol is probably something that is equivalent to a meal a week for me and for a lot of us it might be something similar. Think of it in those terms and you think of the benefits. In my lifetime, I think that this goes to the heart of it. We started at the beginning of my life eating to live. Now, alas too many of us are living to eat. Entertainy, as usual, Mr Stevenson, as well as informative. I call on Anna Sarwar to close with Labour. Six minutes, please. Thank you very much. How do you follow that? It has been a really good debate that we have had today and it is good that there has been so much consensus that this is a hugely important debate. Parliament has previously put out as a priority tackling smoking and tobacco and our alcohol strategy. I generally believe that the next big public health challenge is about tackling obesity and all the related health issues that follow from it. As others have said, the health implications from obesity are truly horrifying. Alex Cole-Hamilton quoted some of the statistics and I want to repeat them. Obesity is the single biggest cause of cancer after smoking and is linked to 13 different types of cancer. It represents almost 85 per cent of the overall risk factor of developing type 2 diabetes. It is a significant cause of ill health and premature mortality. Those implications are put into real perspective when you consider that Scotland's level of overweight and obesity are the worst in the UK and amongst the worst in the OECD countries. 65 per cent of adults and 29 per cent of children in Scotland are overweight or obese. As the minister said in the opening, there is wide consensus on this issue and she did mention the letter that was signed by all cross-party health spokespeople. I think that that is a consensus that can be built on so we can have an ambitious strategy that leads by example not just for the rest of the UK but indeed globally. Miles Briggs put on record his thanks to all the organisations. I want to repeat that thanks to all the organisations and stakeholders who have helped to provide briefings on this but also have been regular campaigners on this issue and I want to pay particular tribute to Cancer Research UK who have been doing a fantastic public health awareness campaign as well as lobbying heavily their parliamentarians. Dave Stewart and Alison Johnstone mentioned the link between not just diet and health outcomes but inequality and poverty and their links to diet and health outcomes. I think that needs to be looked at in the round when we come up with this obesity strategy because it does impact on life expectancy because it does impact on life chances and it does impact on life outcomes too. There is a human interest in tackling obesity and the challenges that come from it. There is also a financial interest. We see the increasing pressures on our national health service, the considering pressure on capacity but also the increasing financial pressures and the cost of obesity and the outcome of obesity are a huge issue for our national health service too. Sandra White and others mentioned local community projects. Kenneth Gibson also mentioned some local community projects. We should put on record our thanks not just to our NHS but also to our third sector organisations but to the community organisations who are doing so much important work for local interventions particularly in the hardest to reach areas of the efforts that they do. I will come back and touch upon later about the impact of local budgets and local government on doing that. Active lives was mentioned by Annie Wells and others. I think that that is an important part. I do not think that we can look at diet in isolation. I think that we have to look at active participation, whether that be sports participation or indeed active travel and ensuring that active travel is also safe so that people can have that as alternative forms of travel I thought that Johann Lamont made an important point about body shaming and bullying and the pressures that come with popular culture. That is a hugely significant issue that goes beyond just putting restrictions on what people can eat or what they can access and what resources are available on how we educate young people and how we give young people confidence in their own appearance, confidence and what they can achieve by giving individuals into action. I think that that would have a negative approach. I think that we have to try and encourage better behaviour and changing culture through working with communities rather than making it look like we are victimising individual communities or indeed individuals themselves. Maurice Corry mentioned the sugar tax and talked in length about sugar. I have got to say all his anger towards sugar and the impact of it made the dentist in me very, very happy. More action on sugar is, of course, welcome. There has been a number of issues on the individual strategy that are important. We need to look at advertising and the impact that advertising has on shaping the mindset of young people and the timing of those adverts. I know that the minister mentioned that before. We need to look at portion sizes and the impact that has affordability. I think that there is at least a perception that healthy food is more expensive and less affordable than unhealthy food. We need retailers to make sure that affordable food is healthy and to encourage people to buy healthy food when it is more affordable. We need to take action on multibies. It has been mentioned before that 40 per cent of the sugar intake, 40 per cent of the saturated fat intake and 40 per cent of the calorie intake is from multibies schemes. How we clamp down on multibies is important. How we encourage better labelling and how we use our planning and licensing to make sure that people want to sell unhealthy foods. I want to touch on closing, Deputy Presiding Officer, on local government funding. We cannot look at active participation, active travel in isolation away from local government finance. There is a direct link between budgets of local authorities and their ability to invest in the local communities and in quality local facilities that can be affordable, safe and accessible for people from all backgrounds. In closing, this is an issue that the First Party supports. It is one that I want us to be ambitious on and I will look forward to working closely with the Government to deliver an obesity strategy that can be historic but also make real changes to people's lifestyles. Thank you very much. I call on Brian Whittle to close. We can serve to seven minutes, please, Mr Whittle. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I can assure Mr Stevenson that muscle is heavy on fat but that makes no difference to me these days. I remember the day and now it's night. There's been an interesting and consensual debate today which highlights the cross-party recognition that this is a serious issue that needs us all to park any political act that we may wish to grind. I also wanted to add here that it's not just about maintaining a healthy weight, it's also about eating a healthy diet to tackle modern-day malnutrition because it's entirely possible to be overweight and be malnourished. A fact that is a growing problem not just here in Scotland but in the wider developed countries. Listening to today's debate and reading through the Government's motion, I think that there is a danger that the issue of the healthy weight strategy will be considered in isolation. By that I mean discussing measures to tackle it as an individual health condition and within only one portfolio as Miles Briggs alluded to. I agree with Kenny Gibson that our relationship with food, drink and physical activity must be taken over a lifetime and that's how we should frame this debate. The rhetoric that Stuart Stevenson said is absolutely paramount that we do not stigmatise any condition or person which I think that Johann Lamont articulated so well in discussing eating disorders. I think that successfully attacking obesity, smoking and a poor relationship with alcohol have a real connection to poor mental health in many cases as Annie Wells took the time and what I thought was quite a thoughtful speech to bring that very point to the chamber and that will in turn help to tackle other rising incidents of preventable conditions such as type 2 diabetes which has been mentioned many times in the chamber today as well as muscular skeletal conditions, many cancers, chest, heart and stroke conditions. The two key pillars to a healthy lifestyle are physical activity and nutrition and there is a symbiotic relationship between these two behaviours in that one drives the other behaviour. To consider one without the other I think will have a limited scope for success. When it comes to the nutrition in Scotland we have food producers that are recognised for producing some of the highest quality food in the world yet they remain the unhealthiest country in Europe and the unhealthiest small country in the world and that suggests that locally grown produce is not getting to the Scottish tables as it should be. Our farmers produce the highest quality food are charged with custodianship of the countryside and are paying the living wage and ensure the highest of animal welfare standards yet when it comes to public procurement we find the high proportion of our food for schools and hospitals much of which can be sourced locally comes from cheaper imports. I would hold up East Ayrshire Council here showing the way and like other councils to follow. I mentioned earlier the link between poor nutrition and the lack of physical activity as contributing factors in poor mental health and good mental health is the starting point for tackling issues such as maintaining or achieving a healthy weight. We need politicians to consider delivering advice on healthy eating, looking at taxing unhealthy food or banning multi-bis for unhealthy product. That will only be relevant if the very people we are trying to reach are not in the mindset that we are able to accept and act on that advice. In the mental health foundation's presentation Food for Thought they were stating that one of the most obvious yet under-recognised factors in the development of mental health is the following body of evidence indicating that nutrition must play an important role in the prevention, development and management of diagnosed mental health problems including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, ADHD and dementia. Sam H is Scotland's mental health charter for physical activity. It suggests that physical activity through sport or recreation has been proven to have a positive impact on physical and mental health and wellbeing. Research suggests that less physical activity a person does, the more likely they are to experience low mood depression, tension and worry. Education has been highlighted today quite a few people must play a pivotal role in tackling long-term health issues. Sam H suggests that there are a lot of people who would like to be active but do not know how to. I have often said in this place that I believe that education is a major solution to health and welfare. One of the things that we have not discussed is the delivery of a mechanism of any strategy that we might bring forward. Without that, any consultation may join others that I have gathered in the dust on the shelf. The third sector is key deliverers and I would like to use three very different examples in managing the same outcome. The Cardiup Physiotherapy Department at Crosshouse hospital in NHS Ayrshire and Arran have run an extended community rehabilitation programme that will not only help chest heart and stroke sufferers but also welcomes other people with conditions such as obesity and musculoskeletal sufferers. The co-bombidity exercise in education classes have been very successful in not only reducing further re-emissions to hospital or doctors appointments, they have been very instrumental in increasing the quality of life from those conditions. Last night, I revisited Doon Valley boxing club just to watch Sam Mullin who has made such a massive impact in the community in Domellington. Have we brought the community in there? He has developed a boxing club and a gym. He has trained trainers who now bring their kids to the boxing club to take part in the boxing where the parents take part in the gym and then pick their kids up and go home. Last night, I wanted to mention centre stage and catalysts. I know quite a few people in here who are aware of them. They use music and art to draw people into the community. It speaks very much to mental health and how they deal with food. The key word to all of the above is community. All of the above happen locally in the community where there is a hook that brings people in to engage people and enable other conversations. It is not just about the money in your pocket. It is about how much things cost. It is about access to opportunity in those communities where they have maybe a little amenities and a little resource to travel. It speaks very much to Dave Stewart's point in the Labour amendment and why we will be supporting that as well. Sandra White and Emma Harper are describing to the third sector. Our doctors, nurses, midwives, physios, health visitors, our teachers, our nursery workers and all must therefore be the very first step in the strategy. Who is looking after healthcare professionals and teachers? They need the tools in the room to breathe to allow them to have the active healthy lifestyle when encouraging others to adopt. One of the things that we have to consider is the tension between a child's right to be protected from health harming products and their freedom to choose and what is the point of restricting? Junk food promotions, if school children can leave the school at lunchtime and buy junk food from a van parked outside the school, if the law does not allow the banning of these enterprises then change the law. I will go to the end then. There are some very big decisions to be made here and even if they are unpopular to start with you will find that you have support across the chamber. Dave Stewart described the challenges that Scotland faces in terms of our diet as feeling like a guardian knot and when we consider the statistics, the culture, societal and marketing changes that we need to ensure success I think that we would all be forgiven for feeling that this issue is impossible but what I have taken from this debate is again an underlying point that I think is important and that we should understand that there is a need to take action and a consensus and that our poor health need not simply be inevitable but this agreement is not just a consensus where we all each pat one another on the back and congratulate us all on having great ideas but today's debate has been fundamentally and the contributions that I have heard today have been constructive, they have been informed they have been reflective and where they have needed to be they have also been challenging of government and that is absolutely correct because if I ultimately, the minister responsible for this policy, want to have the consensus and backing of this Parliament and if we all agree that a step change and a culture change is needed then we need the space to contribute to collectively feel ownership on Scotland's eventual diet and obesity strategy approach Food is one of life's great pleasures and as others have reflected on their own experience my own one was grown up on a farm and from that I got a sense of seasonality how food has grown its connection to the land I was incredibly lucky and as Kenny Gibson noted it is really regrettable that our global reputation as a country of fantastic produce renowned the world over is at odds and a complete paradox to our obesity levels and our current relationship with food it is also at odds with the stark reality of people's lives who rely on food banks and the inequalities that drive Scotland's public health challenges so I sincerely agree with the comments made by colleagues that we cannot look at this issue purely through siloed health lens this issue is relevant to all my colleagues across government in transport in planning, in social security in equality's education and undoubtedly a whole lot more because obesity is costly to our NHS it's impacting on its sustainability it is costly to our economy and it is all members recognised it is also costly in terms of our health and wellbeing and especially those who are most disadvantaged the facts that many members spoke to this afternoon are stark 65 per cent of adults are overweight 29 per cent are obese 29 per cent of children are at risk of becoming overweight 87 per cent of type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese sugar consumption in children and adults is above recommended levels in 2016 only 20 per cent of adults meant the 5 a day recommendation going back again to that point that Kenny Gibson made about us not being a country known for our produce 50 per cent of adults only managing to have 5 recommended 5 a day 50 per cent of sugar that we consume comes from discretionary products and food high in fat and sugar and salt is more likely to be purchased on promotion a stark list of statistics illustrating the clear need for action but I think it's important to recognise that we're not starting from scratch there are some encouraging signs of progress the percentage of inactive children has decreased from 10 per cent in 2015 to 8 per cent in 2016 the percentage of children meeting guidelines on physical activity has increased walking participation has helped to encourage an upward trend in general activity levels in the country and 2,000 convenience stores in the Scottish Government healthy living programme most of them in most of our most deprived areas are providing local access to fruit and veg a point that was raised by Alec Cole-Hamilton and our healthcare retail standard is altering the environment of that offer of food and drink in our NHS and I think that's again a point made by Brian Whittle that we need to also make sure that we support our health staff as well and the healthcare retail standard is an important point in which we are allowing them to choose healthier options and of course as well as I mentioned in my opening remarks breastfeeding rates have shown an encouraging upward trend but while this is all positive and a need for as Kenny Gibson, Annie Wells Alison Johnstone all said a significant culture change and that is why boldness, imagination and innovation is required so turning to the points that were raised by members a big theme from today's debate was around empowerment and community led initiatives and also social prescribing all raised by Annie Wells, Sandra White Alec Rowley, Alec Cole-Hamilton and Emma Harper and that is absolutely a key theme in responses that contributors recognise needed to be strengthened and again illustrates the need to work beyond the health world members mentioned the allotments other community led initiatives social connectedness that comes from those initiatives that knowledge transfer and support through getting people working alongside one another in their communities Alec Rowley mentioned the Fife initiatives in his constituency and I know of something he is keen on allotments in the act of growing your own food in Edinburgh I met people who are getting supported through that knowledge transfer that support around what to cook how to cook it, those very basic things but we are so required by those people in those communities and of course Sandra White mentioned initiatives in her constituency as well and I think there was also an important point although some did laugh at Stewart Stevenson some of Stewart Stevenson's comments around the seasonality of food as well, the ability to go out and find your own forage for you but there is an important point here around that lack of connection that we have in the country with land, our land and with our food production and I think his comments were of the antithesis to what Ash Denham mentioned around the increase in the accessibility of processed foods Annie Wells, Alex Hamilton, Alice Johnson also raised correctly psychological issues associated with food, the body images, the stresses of modern living, this distorted perspective of what healthy looks like and of course associated eating disorders and also importantly a recurring theme in many debates in this Parliament of late has browned adverse childhood experiences those impacting on people's ability to cope and that's reliance on food and poor choices of food in order to cope with those traumas of the past so our challenge is to understand and to help and to support people and I'll certainly be working and continuing to work with Maureen Watt as she takes forward her mental health strategy making sure that there are adequate connections across these portfolios to maximise the impact that both strategies will have when we're going forward and that's why it's important to demand more responsible marketing to include and including better promotions will be important to tackling that urge to buy and that bombardment of images that is so prevalent that removal of the empowerment that many members said was so important around community-led initiatives also needs to be felt in the arenas that we buy our food, empowering people to make and help them make positive choices and I think Joanne Lamont also made a really important contribution I agreed with some of it was challenging to government but I think what was key to her contribution was that personal testimony and what she's seen in her professional life as a teacher and I think she was also right to urge caution in our language the bullying, the body-shaming all of those things that can go along when we have this discussion around diet and obesity she's absolutely right that we need to be bold and imaginative but we need to temper that with caution in how we articulate this issue and finally Dave Stewart also made a good point around how we evaluate the work that we're taking forward and in particular and specifically mentioned issues around the sky diabetes sky diabetes is the most complete and comprehensive national disease register and database of a major long-term condition in the world and it's recognised the world over and he's right to make that point because this is going to be a fundamental plank about how we absolutely manage to monitor and evaluate what we're doing within this strategy and to give him some comfort Scottish Government officials continue to work closely with the sky diabetes team in order to look towards a long-term sustainability of this very valued and world-renowned system and Brian Whittle I think was also right to point to young people we've mentioned earlier but the danger is that in talking around early intervention that we simply equate that with action only in the early years and we need to recognise that our adolescence requires support as well to enable them to continue to make and take positive choices and I think in this year of young people that gives us extra an extra imperative to make sure that we get our actions right and that the fear that Scotland now has an appetite for a bold, innovative and effective strategy that draws on the evidence that we have to enable more people to have healthier, happier lives and to relieve pressure on our NHS and those plans that seems and I think we all agree need to limit the marketing of products that are high in fat, sugar or salt that will be important for our forthcoming strategy so too as Dave Stewart Stevenson mentioned the clearer labelling on our food and the information that is imparted to members of the public Cancer Research UK, Obesity Action Scotland, Food Standards Scotland and a whole host of others have provided an authoritative and evidence-based voice in this and they deserve our thanks as members have this afternoon because they have very much set the tone and scene to enable us as politicians to land I hope what will be an effective strategy that will create the healthier Scotland that we need to see. Thank you very much that concludes our debate on developing a Scottish healthy weight strategy the next item of business is a statement by Mike Russell on an update of the European Union withdrawal bill the minister will take questions at the end of his statement so I would encourage all members who wish to ask a question to press their request to speak buttons now.