The Department of Health guidance sets out how PCTs and councils should keep track of how overweight children are and calls on them to set goals for stemming the rate of growth in obesity levels.
The guidance, How to Set and Monitor Goals for Prevalence of Child Obesity, says local targets should aim to limit increases in the number of obese children to 0.5 per cent a year, keep the problem at the same level or reduce the rate.
Dr Colin Waine, chair of the National Obesity Forum, welcomed the guidance's call for PCTs and local authorities to work together: "We are in the throes of an epidemic. It has to be tackled urgently with co-ordinated action."
The guidance follows the government's obesity strategy, Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives, which was published in January (CYP Now, 30 January - 5 February).
In mid-March the government is due to publish resources to support local work on promoting healthy lifestyles and tackling child obesity.
www.cypnow.co.uk/doc.
