Plan aims to tackle obesity with more local food in schools and hospitals

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

Health chiefs and council leaders are backing plans to tackle poor diets and rising obesity rates by reshaping how food is grown, bought and served across a Welsh county.

In Carmarthenshire, proposals include sourcing 30% of food served in schools, hospitals, leisure centres and council-run care homes from local and Welsh producers by 2030, while cutting the environmental footprint of public sector food by 75% by 2035.

The ambitions form part of a new local food strategy which also aims to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, reduce reliance on highly processed foods, and support more local food-growing initiatives and community enterprises.

The plans come after new figures showed Carmarthenshire had the second-highest obesity rate among four and five-year-olds in Wales during the 2024-25 school year.

The strategy, overseen by Carmarthenshire’s Public Services Board, would require support from public bodies and an estimated £4.5 million of funding between now and 2040.

An action plan has been developed with three key objectives and 30 long-term goals, ranging from boosting local food production and creating jobs to improving public health and reducing environmental impacts.

Members of Carmarthenshire Council’s homes, regeneration and Welsh language scrutiny committee heard details of the plans last week.

Among the proposals are the creation or expansion of local food hubs in key towns, support for community food projects and social enterprises, and the introduction of 20 annual traineeship placements linked to food supply chains between 2026 and 2028.

Changes to school menus are also expected as part of efforts to improve diets.

The strategy also proposes new planning guidance restricting outlets near schools which sell foods high in salt, sugar and fat, while “non-compliant” products would be removed from public sector vending machines by 2027.

A report before councillors said guidance issued by Wales’s Future Generations Commissioner, Derek Walker, had encouraged councils to develop local food systems, with consultation on the Carmarthenshire strategy taking place over the last two years.

Earlier this month, Public Health Wales reported that 27.3% of four and five-year-olds measured during the 2024-25 school year were overweight, with 12.8% classified as obese. Both figures were the highest recorded since monitoring began in 2013-14.

In Carmarthenshire, 15.2% of children measured were obese, second only to Anglesey’s 16.4%.

Public Health Wales said obesity rates among children in the most deprived communities were around 75% higher than in the least deprived areas.

Food literacy

Cllr Carys Jones, Carmarthenshire Council’s cabinet member for rural affairs, planning and community cohesion, said: “There needs to be a strong element of education and food literacy.

“We want to develop a strong and thriving food production sector, supporting jobs and wages while encouraging food enterprises.”

The proposals received broad support from members of the scrutiny committee.

Committee chairman Cllr Rob Evans also backed the plans, telling members that healthy food had played an important role during a lengthy stay in hospital.

The scrutiny committee endorsed the strategy, which will now be considered by Carmarthenshire Council’s cabinet.