§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how, when and where, the sub-committee on medical aspects of food policy proposes to monitor the nutritional state of children between seven and 11 years of age; at what intervals this sub-committee will report; if he will arrange for an interim report to be published in the OFFICIAL REPORT within three months; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. AlisonWith regard to publication of reports I can add nothing to the reply my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science gave to the hon. Member on 25th November.
Among the monitoring proposals considered by a sub-committee of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy, is one which has already been approved and initiated in respect of the age group in question, i.e. a study of height, weight and skinfold thicknesses of primary-school children by the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Social Medicine at St. Thomas' Hospital. The areas of study were chosen to represent degrees of poverty and affluence. About two-thirds of the areas were chosen from districts with the highest unemployment rates and other indices of poverty.
I am, however, advised that public disclosure of the details of the study including the precise areas where monitoring will be carried out could affect the success of the study.—[Vol. 826, c. 448–9.]