10 Nov 2022 #FoodActive2022 welcomes attendees to consider the impact of Covid-19 and cost-of-living crisis on child healthy weight
Today we welcome 600 delegates to the #FoodActive2022 conference, ‘Prioritising child healthy weight in an age of crises’ to consider the sustained challenges presented by recovery from Covid-19, the cost-of-living crisis and how these impact on child healthy weight.
About the conference
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges for the promotion of healthy weight amongst children and young people. Emerging from the pandemic, we are now faced with another sizeable challenge in the form of the cost-of-living crisis, which is being fuelled by a range of factors, including inflationary pressures, the war in Ukraine, and arguably, political instability within Government.
The impact of these challenges on children’s health is a topic we aim to explore at this year’s conference. What will the impact of these sustained challenges mean for our future generations? How can the learning from the pandemic equip us to support children and their families to access healthy food and physical activity during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis? What are the priorities and where are the opportunities for collective action?
The session will be split into three sessions:
- Session one: the lasting impact of Covid-19 on child health
- Session two: the cost-of-living crisis and implications on child health
- Session three: whole systems approaches to promoting child health
‘Prioritising child healthy weight in an age of crises’ will bring together 600 delegates representing a range of different roles from local authority public health teams, NHS colleagues, PhD students, school nurses, health visitors and much more.
The conference will also welcome a fantastic line up of speakers, including:
Confirmed speakers include:
- Professor Matthew Ashton, Lead Director of Public Health at Food Active and Director of Public Health at Liverpool City Council
- Professor Martin Caraher, Emeritus Professor of Food and Health Policy, City, University of London
- Jon Hayes, Managing Director, Cheshire & Merseyside Cancer Alliance
- Dr Robin Ireland, Director of Research, Food Active
- Alice Jennings, Senior Communications Strategist, Frameworks Institute
- Katharine Jenner, Director, Obesity Health Alliance
- Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, Director of Public Health, Lancashire County Council
- Dr Naomi Maynard, Good Food Plan Director, Feeding Liverpool
- Dr Oliver Mytton, Honorary Consultant in Public Health Medicine
- Dr James Nobles, Research Fellow, Leeds Beckett University
- Nika Pajda, Senior Policy and Special Projects Manager at Bite Back 2030
- Anna Taylor, Executive Director, Food Foundation
The conference will be chaired by Abdul Razaq, Director of Public Health at Blackburn with Darwen Council and Dr Matthew Philpott, Executive Director, Health Equalities Group.
The full conference programme can be viewed below.
#FoodActive2022 Conference Programme
New cost-of-living and healthy weight resources
As part of the conference, we are launching a range of resources for delegates and wider audiences to support the topic and discussions at #FoodActive2022 within their own teams and roles, including a cost-of-living and healthy weight briefing paper, Healthy Weight Declaration briefing in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and finally, a health disparities and healthy weight position statement. These include:
Briefing Paper: Healthy Weight and Cost of Living Crisis
Healthy Weight Declaration Briefing: The Cost-of-Living & Disparities in Healthy Weight
Position Statement: Health Disparities and Healthy Weight
Are you joining us today? Make sure you tweet us to let us know your highlights of the conference using the hashtag #FoodActive2022 and tag @food_active.
Can’t make it? The session will be recorded and shared on our website later this month, so make sure you subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive details here.
