Beggs highlights importance of health promotion in PAC report.

Roy Beggs Jnr, UUP MLA for East Antrim has welcomed the Public Accounts Committee report on the 'Performance of the Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland' and in particular welcomed recommendation 6, which calls for early intervention so that children and their parents are better informed of health issues at an earlier stage.

Roy Beggs MLA said 'Initiatives such as Sure Start can enable our children, young people & their parents in disadvantages communities, to learn about the advantages of healthy eating and regular exercise. There is much evidence linking lifestyle to health inequalities and it is important that our children and their parents are guided so that they are more likely to have healthier and longer lives.'

Recommendation 6 states that 'the committee welcomes the Department's view that concentrated support, targeted at the most needy children and their parents, can reap long-term benefits. The committee recommends that DHSSPS continues to engage with relevant education authorities and primary care services to ensure that early intervention occurs and that initiatives such as Sure Start are consistent across N.I and that everything possible is done to ensure that these reach the most vulnerable children in society.'

Mr Beggs, Vice-Chairman of the PAC said 'I have had the benefit of working as a member of the Horizon Sure Start committee in Carrickfergus & Larne and I have seen the benefits to parents and their children in the local community. It is vital that initiatives like this are recognised for the long term health and education advantages that they provide to children and their parents in the qualifying areas. It is also important that the Health and Education departments work closely together to continue to champion initiatives such as Sure Start which give our children a better start in their early years.'

The Ulster Unionist Party's spokesman for children and young people's issues went on to say 'Children are significantly influenced in the 0-4 age group and increased education and health support will hold them in good stead for the rest of their lives.'

Recommendation 21 in the report states 'that the DHSS takes appropriate action to ensure that all children in preschool education are offered dental care services and oral health advice including a daily tooth brushing programme. In response to this recommendation, Beggs states 'serious tooth decay has been evident even in some pre school children. Some parents are failing to recognise the importance of a healthy diet and regular brushing of teeth, the earlier this is rectified, the better. Poor diets not only affect tooth decay but can have implications for diabetes and obesity in future years.'

ENDS