Methods of Promoting and Protecting Public Health Essay.

In September 2005, the Government received recommendations from the School Meals Review Panel (SMRP) on school lunches and on a number of wider issues concerning food in schools. These standards will apply to school lunches and other food provided in all local authority maintained schools in England. The Government endorses the recommendations of the SMRP on the nutritional standards that should apply to school lunches with some minor amendments. This means that there will be two sets of standards for school lunches:

a. Food-based, which will define the types of food that children and young people should be offered in a school lunch and their frequency; and

b. Nutrient-based which will set out the proportion of nutrients that children and young people should receive from a school lunch.

The Government has also decided that similar standards should apply to all school food other than lunches, as recommended by the School Food Trust.Methods of Promoting and Protecting Public Health Essay.

This means that:

A. no confectionery will be sold in schools;

B. no bagged savoury snacks other than nuts and seeds (without added salt or sugar) will be sold in schools;

C. a variety of fruit and vegetables should be available in all school food outlets. This could include fresh, dried, frozen, canned or juiced varieties;

D. children and young people must have easy access at all times to free, fresh drinking water in schools;

E. the only other drinks available will be:

i) Water (still or sparkling);

ii) Milk (skimmed or semi-skimmed);

iii) Pure fruit juices;

iv) Yoghurt and milk drinks (with less than 5% added sugar);

v) Drinks made from combinations of (i) to (iv) above;

vi) Low calorie hot chocolate;

vii) Tea; and

viii) Coffee.

In order to support schools, government bodies will work with schools that have moved or are moving to providing healthier food in vending machines and tuck-shop; and with industry players, to identify effective ways of making changes to provision and educating pupils about making healthier choices.Methods of Promoting and Protecting Public Health Essay.

http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/s/school%20food%20trust%20-%20nutritional%20standards%20for%20school%20lunches.pdf

Specific Protection-Immunisation

All babies are born with a little natural immunity to disease, but immunisation can offer considerable additional protection against certain serious illnesses. Without immunisation, children are much more vulnerable to serious infections such as meningitis C and polio. Immunisation usually takes place when the baby is two months. This is when a baby’s natural immunity to illness, obtained from the mother, begins to diminish.

Having the immunisation, protects the baby from preventable diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus (lockjaw), pertussis (whooping cough),haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), polio, measles, meningococcal C conjugate (MenC), mumps and rubella. After a completed vaccination programme, the child should have lifelong protection against polio, probable lifelong protection against measles, mumps, rubella and meningitis C, at least ten years’ protection against diphtheria and tetanus, and at least three against whooping cough. This is why the government sets immunisation targets for local health services to meet, so that if there’re any below the set target, improvement can be made and a law enforced.

BTEC National Health and Social Care Book 2

Environmental-Supply of safe water

The Drinking Water Inspectorate (DWI) was formed in 1990 to provide independent reassurance that water supplies in England and Wales are safe and drinking water quality is acceptable to consumers.

The Inspectorate:

* provides independent scrutiny of water company activities for companies supplying drinking water to consumers in England and Wales;

* works with other stakeholders for the improvement of drinking water quality and to secure drinking water safety;

* commissions research to build a sound evidence base on drinking water quality;

* publishes data on drinking water quality in England and Wales.

The regulatory framework for water supplies in England and Wales is set out in the Water Industry Act 1991 (WIA91). Under WIA91, the authorities responsible for regulating the quality of public supplies are the Secretary State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Welsh Assembly Government. However, the Chief Inspector of Drinking Water and Drinking Water Inspectorate are appointed under Section 86 of the WIA911 to act on their behalf. WIA91 defines the powers and duties of DWI as well as the duties of the water companies. In discharging its duties, DWI will have regard to ensure that the public health aspects of drinking water quality are not compromised and that public confidence in the quality of tap water not undermined. Read about Birds Eye and the UK frozen food industry.Methods of Promoting and Protecting Public Health Essay.