County with Wales' second highest young child obesity rate sets out plan to deal with it

Health and council chiefs want more people eating local healthy food in Carmarthenshire and more people growing it. A key part of a new strategy is that 30% of food served in schools, hospitals, leisure centres, and council care homes comes from local and Welsh producers by 2030, along with a 75% cut in the environmental footprint of public sector food by 2035. It could also mean more community food and social enterprises in Carmarthenshire and more jobs. Another objective is to significantly reduce consumption of processed foods that are high in salt, sugar, and fat, and to increase the amount of fruit and veg that people eat. Obesity rates in four and five-year-olds in Carmarthenshire were the second highest of Wales’ 22 counties last year. The Carmarthenshire local food strategy, as it’s known, is being overseen by a public services board and requires support from public sector bodies and funding of some £4.5m between now and 2040. An action plan has been developed with three key objectives and 30 long-term goals. Members of Carmarthenshire Council’s homes, regeneration, and Welsh language scrutiny committee heard more about it at a meeting. Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here Cllr Carys Jones, cabinet member for rural affairs, planning, and community cohesion, said “a strong element of education and food literacy” would be required. She hoped the food strategy would develop a strong and thriving production sector, boosting jobs and wages and promoting food enterprises. One of the goals is to launch 20 placements per year from 2026 to 2028 for traineeships linked to supply chains. Another is to establish local food hubs in key towns or expand existing ones. Changes to school menus are also likely. New planning guidance restricting outlets near schools which sell processed food high in salt, sugar, and fat is proposed along with removing “non-compliant stock” from public sector vending machines by 2027. A report before the committee said guidance had been published by Wales’ future generations commissioner Derek Walker for councils to develop “local food systems” and consultation had been taking place in Carmarthenshire over the last two years. Earlier this month, a report by Public Health Wales found that 27.3% of four and five-year-olds it measured during the 2024-25 school year were overweight with 12.8% obese. It was the highest rate in both counts since it started measuring children in 2013-14. The obesity rate within Carmarthenshire was 15.2% – only Isle of Anglesey was higher at 16.4%. Obesity rates among four- and five-year-olds in England and Scotland were lower than in Wales. Public Health Wales said the prevalence of children with obesity was approximately 75% higher among the most deprived fifth of the population compared to the least deprived. Cllr Handel Davies welcomed the Carmarthenshire local food strategy. “You think: ‘Why didn’t we introduce this a long time ago?'” he said. Committee chairman Cllr Rob Evans said he had been in hospital for a long time and the food there was very healthy. “Even the breakfasts were healthy,” he said. The committee endorsed the strategy which will now go to cabinet for consideration.