Approved work: Reform of the Mental Health Act – people with learning difficulties and autism
This POSTnote will explore the implications of the Government's proposals to reform the Act and summarise stakeholder perspectives.

In 2019, the UK Government called childhood obesity “one of the biggest health challenges this country faces”. Childhood obesity contributes to a range of physical and mental health conditions. This POSTnote outlines current trends in childhood obesity, the impacts on children’s health and access to support. It also covers key risk factors for childhood obesity and evidence on the effectiveness of policies to address it.
Childhood Obesity (518 KB , PDF)
The latest data from 2019-20 reported that at the end of primary school, 35% of children aged 10-11 years are living with overweight or obesity and 21% are living with obesity. The Government’s obesity strategy seeks to halve the prevalence of childhood obesity by 2030, with a focus on encouraging individual behaviour change, product reformulation and restricting unhealthy food marketing. Policies to address childhood obesity are also in place in devolved nations. (In the research and policy fields, the term overweight is commonly used as a noun and so is used in this way in this briefing.)
Acknowledgements
POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer-reviewed. POST would like to thank interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including:
Members of the POST Board*
Professor Judith Buttriss, British Nutrition Foundation*
Caroline Cerny, Obesity Health Alliance*
Nick Crabb, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence*
Barbara Crowther, Sustain*
Monica Desai, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence*
Department for Education*
Mathew Evans, Advertising Association*
Professor Mary Fewtrell, University College London Institute of Child Health*
Amy Glass, Food and Drink Federation*
Jade Hall, Local Government Association*
James Hawkins, Food and Drink Federation
Department of Health and Social Care*
Professor Russ Jago, University of Bristol*
Theresa Moore, University of Bristol*
Dr Lisa Newson, British Psychological Society*
Dr James Nobles, University of Bristol*
Dr Dimitrios Pournaras, British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society*
Jill Rothwell, Sport England*
Professor Harry Rutter, University of Bath
Professor Mike Rayner, University of Oxford*
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health*
Professor Franco Sassi, Imperial College London*
Stephanie Slater, School Food Matters*
Professor Carolyn Summerbell, University of Durham*
Andrew Taylor, Advertising Standards Association*
Dr Alison Tedstone, Public Health England*
Dolly Theis, University of Cambridge*
Julia Thrift, Town and Country Planning Association*
Professor Gareth Stratton, University of Swansea*
Professor Stanley Ulijaszek, University of Oxford*
* denotes people and organisations who acted as external reviewers of the briefing.
Childhood Obesity (518 KB , PDF)
This POSTnote will explore the implications of the Government's proposals to reform the Act and summarise stakeholder perspectives.
This POSTnote will identify the factors contributing to the health inequalities experienced by men and analyse the policy interventions in healthcare.
This POSTnote will outline how reproductive organoids, which imitate the structure and function of reproductive organs, and artificial germ cells can be used to inform fertility research.