Daily roundup: Child obesity, city deals, and poverty in Wales

Only one per cent of overweight children are being offered weight loss programmes to improve their health, despite high success rates, the Guardian reports. The newspaper said primary care trusts put out tenders for 12 child obesity programmes in 2011, but this dropped to just three in 2012. Meanwhile, the head of the National Obesity Forum has said overweight children should be given gastric bypass surgery. The Daily Mail reports that David Haslam said the treatment could have long-term health benefits.

Twenty more cities are to be given greater freedom over how to spend budgets as part of an expansion of the government’s city deals scheme. The move will allow authorities greater autonomy over issues such as how to spend their training and skills budgets. Eight of England’s largest cities are already part of the scheme. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “Even more places will be free from Whitehall control and have the tools to power their own growth. These deals help cities and their wider areas make once in a generation changes that will be felt by everyone across their region.”

Children living in poverty in Wales are being held back from achieving at school, Save the Children has warned. The Western Mail reports that a study of 200 young people by the charity found that children living in poverty can be prevented from joining in activities and events that boost attainment. The report makes six recommendations for government, local authorities and schools in Wales, including a call for one-to-one support for pupils and the creation of a new fund for deprived children.