Item two: Eat well, stay well
Matter for discussion submitted by the RCN Essex Branch
That this meeting of RCN Congress discusses how best to encourage people to make healthy lifestyle choices in the current economic climate
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Jacqueline Thurlow, from the RCN Essex branch challenged Congress to consider how nurses can influence healthy lifestyle choices in the current challenging economic climate. She said that she had recently discovered that 'simple is best' and exercise is often free
Jacqueline asked if homemaking, food preparation and gardening should be included in school curriculum reviews. She urged Congress to consider what benefits were to be gained from people rekindling the skills to grow their own food at a time when the UK population was eating more and becoming more sedentary.
Jacqueline summarised her views by emphasising that diet and exercise were the key to healthy lifestyles and psychological and physical considerations must be taken into account.
In response, David Baker said that society's attitude to obesity must also be addressed. Stigmatising larger people can result in a significant blow to their self esteem, he said. Lisa Lester urged caution with the use of the word 'diet' - and reminded Congress of the causal link between diet and eating disorders.
Nykoma Hamilton asked Congress to consider costs. She suggested the RCN should lobby larger supermarkets to reduce the price of healthy foods instead of concentrating their special offers on high fat, easy to cook foods.
Geoff Earl told Congress that free school meals are now offered to all Primary one to Primary three children in Scotland and urged Council to consider lobbying for this to be extended to the rest of the UK. The cost, he said, was small compared to the long term benefit.
Instead of just being able to measure and weigh children, school nurses should be able to intervene where obesity problems existed said Judith Durrant, whose opinions were supported by Catherine Gleeson. Judith also said that surgery pre-assessments were an ideal time to discuss weight and lifestyle with patients. This, she said, does not always routinely happen, and this impacts on recovery.
Andrew Parker reminded Congress of the Dig for victory posters, popular during World War Two. "Go and plant spuds and carrots" he said. He reminded Congress that people in the 1930s faced a serious financial crisis but a healthy lifestyle was still possible. This opinion was supported by Jane Bovey who spoke about her own childhood with simple food, walking and swimming, but no television.
The debate closed with Jacqueline Thurlow reflecting that there did not seem to be so much 'sitting around' in the past, and good household management being the key to keeping healthy. She said she was grateful for the rise in awareness which would be a result of this debate.
Background
There is much evidence that what we eat has have a big impact on our health and wellbeing. The increased consumption of refined carbohydrates, saturated fats, salts and fast-foods, coupled with a more sedentary lifestyle has had a global impact upon the levels of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Indeed, the World Health Organization has confirmed that obesity is one of the most blatantly visible — yet most neglected — public health problems today. Throughout the UK there are now policies and initiatives in place to support people in making long term and sustainable life style changes.
In England, the Department of Health white paper Our health, our care, our say (2006) called for a fresh and more energetic approach to helping people live better, and the Next stage review (2008) makes it explicit that the NHS must increasingly play a life enhancing role. The Healthy weight, healthy lives cross-government strategy has committed £5 million of a Healthy Community Challenge Fund grant to designated local areas — known as 'healthy towns' — to build on community work to identify and test actions to make activity and healthy food choices easier for people.
In Scotland, a BMA briefing paper on obesity (2008) has urged ministers to take a cross-governmental approach to address soaring levels of obesity in Scotland's children, recommending that the Scottish Government focus on five key areas — nutrition in schools, exercise, the media and advertising, food labelling and health claims, and the role of health professionals.
The Northern Ireland Executive's Investing for health strategy emphasises the importance of healthy eating as a central component of a broader public health strategy. The public health agenda is at the heart of the reform of service delivery through a new Regional Agency for Public Health and Social Wellbeing. RCN Northern Ireland has welcomed the establishment of the new agency, and is working to strengthen and promote the nursing contribution to the public health agenda.
In Wales, following a recent report by nurse leaders which made a number of recommendations to improve patients' experience of hospital stays, the RCN is set to deliver nutritional training in NHS trusts. This work complements the Welsh Assembly Government's wider efforts to improve nutritional standards in schools through its Appetite for life agenda.
As nurses form 70% of the health care workforce there is a huge contribution to be made by the nursing family to improving the nation's health by enabling better lifestyle choices. The RCN Nutrition now campaign, developed to improve nutrition and hydration standards in hospitals and community health settings, gives nurses the tools and resources they need to make nutrition a priority in the area they work. In September 2008 the RCN launched a booklet and CD to help health care workers provide good nutritional care to patients and ensure the wellbeing and dignity of patients. The RCN has also developed an accredited learning resource and strategy — looking at diet, exercise, lifestyle and smoking — to promote wellbeing among individuals with mental health problems.
References and further reading
Department of Health Change 4 life website, available from the NHS website.
Food Standards Agency Eat well, be well website website, available from the Eat well website.
Scottish Government (2008) Healthy eating, active living: an action plan to improve diet, increase physical activity and tackle obesity (2008-2011), Edinburgh: Scottish Government.