Clean Water
[top]
Blue Flag Awards
 On
the 1st of June the list of beaches that achieved a blue flag award was published.
The European Blue Flag Campaign is an initiative of FEEE (Foundation of Environmental
Education in Europe) and is administered in the UK by Tidy Britain Group. To be
considered, a beach must have attained the ‘guideline’ standard of the European
Union Bathing Water Directive before being assessed for twenty-four other criteria.
A marina must fulfil a similar range of criteria but does not have to fulfil the
Bathing Water Directive standards. This year the UK came in ninth place out of
a total of 19 participating European countries, with a record number of 57 beaches
received the award. This is up 16 on last year’s total. Of the 57 beaches, 24
are in England, mostly located on the South and East coasts. No beaches in the
North West met the stringent ‘guideline’ water quality standard set, and were
therefore not evaluated further, so none received an award. The main problems
in the North West are reported to be;
- microbial contamination
from human sewage and farm effluent
- comparatively high levels
of rainfall and run off into the sea
- comparatively low levels
of sunshine so less ultra violet radiation that could kill the ‘bugs’ in the water
- prevailing North Westerly
winds that tend to push
effluent back onto instead of away from beaches
- restricted circulation
of water in the Irish Sea
- history of oil, chemical,
heavy metal and radioactive waste contamination
Some of these are preventable,
and their effects are exacerbated by the other factors that relate more to the
geography of the North West. European Blue Flags are also given to marinas that
pass 16 checks on environmental management. Britain comes in seventh place in
Europe with 29 marinas making the grade this year, including one in the north
West at Maryport Marina in Cumbria.
Seaside
Awards [top]
The Seaside Award was introduced
in 1992 to provide information about a wide range of beaches in the UK. It is
given to beaches that comply with European Bathing Water mandatory directive standards
and are clean, safe, well managed and provide appropriate information including
details about current and previous water quality. (European bathing water ‘mandatory’
standards are lower than the ‘guideline’ standards required for the Blue Flag
award.) The Seaside Award is an annual UK award scheme, which encompasses both
resort and rural beaches. Its primary functions are to help raise standards of
cleanliness, hygiene, safety and environmental management at beaches and to provide
a comprehensive and free public information service for beach users.
A Seaside Award resort
beach ensures proper safety and first aid provision, access and facilities for
disabled visitors, clean and well-maintained facilities, dog control and hygiene
and a range of public information. A Seaside Award rural beach, which has more
limited facilities, is clean, considered relatively safe for swimming, provides
life-saving equipment, and is checked regularly. Both resort and rural beaches
are required to display the bathing water quality results for the current season
as well as the previous four years.
 There
has been a constant increase in numbers of beaches achieving the required standard
since the scheme started and this year 272 beaches received a Seaside Award including
10 from the North West. All ten are considered ‘rural’ rather than ‘resort’ beaches.
They are; Allonby, Allonby Saltpans, Silloth West, Haverigg, Seascale, Silecroft,
St Bees, Wallasey, West Kirby and Formby. All achieved ‘mandatory’ levels, but
none achieved ‘guideline’ levels for water quality. Further information can be
obtained from the ‘Tidy Britain Group’ http://www.tidybritain.org.uk/
Wholesome
Food [top]
The most detailed survey
ever undertaken of the diet and nutrition in young people in Britain was published
on the 1st of June by the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency.
The report, the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of Young People aged 4 to 18
years, looked at food consumption, nutrient intake, physical measurements, nutritional
status (measured by blood samples), physical activity, and the socio-demographic
characteristics of a sample of over 1700 young people.
The main findings from the study show:
- One in five 4 – 18 year
olds ate no fruit at all during the week of the study.
- There is no evidence of
widespread malnutrition.
- Most young people aged
7 and over were inactive and girls were even less active than boys.
Other findings show that:
- There has been a decline
in the proportion of energy gained from fat.
- There is an increase in
the amount of energy gained from carbohydrate.
- Intakes of most vitamins
and minerals are above recommended levels.
- Young people are eating
too much salt, often twice the recommended level.
There were some regional
differences in diets, but few significant differences in energy and macronutrient
intake between regions. Intakes of most vitamins and minerals tended to be lower
in Scotland, and to a lesser extent in Northern England, than elsewhere. When
differences in energy intake were taken into account, lower intakes persisted
in Northern England for zinc among boys and girls, and iron and manganese among
girls. Young people in Scotland and the North also tended to have lower biochemical
status of vitamins such as vitamin C and folate.
Indicators of socio-economic
status such as receipt of benefits, household income and social class showed that
young people, particularly boys in households of low socio-economic status had
lower intakes of energy, fat, some other macronutrients and most vitamins and
minerals.
Further information can
be found on either the website of the Food Standards Agency; http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/
or the Department of Health; http://www.pipe.ccta.gov.uk
Yvette Cooper, Minister
for Public Health related the survey findings to the increased risk of illness.
She said that “The study shows that we are right to be concerned about health
inequalities in preventing heart disease and cancer, and that those inequalities
start in childhood. It reveals low levels of fruit and vegetable consumption among
British children, which contributes to high levels of deaths from cancer (particularly
colorectal cancer) and heart disease later in life.”
There is very little further
information available about the nutrition status of people on a regional basis.
Local surveys have been done, such as the Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire
developed by the Schools Health Education Unit at Exeter University and carried
out in 1994 – 95 in Liverpool by Alex Scott – Samuel and the Liverpool Observatory.
Although this survey examined self-reported behaviour only, the results concurred
with the national survey results.
Indicators that are known
to be affected by lifestyle factors such as coronary heart disease and cancers
are worse in the North West than any other Region or nationally, but the risk
of these diseases is compounded by other factors such as smoking as well as diet
and activity level.
The good news is that in
the North West, the average percentage of food energy derived from saturated fatty
acids has decreased from 17.1% in the three year period from 1988 – 90 to 15.3%
in the three year period from 1995 – 97. This is in line with national changes.
(Public Health Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators.)
Adequate intake of dark
green leafy vegetables, fruits and other nutrients are known to be protective
against colorectal cancers. For colorectal cancers in the North West, standardised
registration for males was 105 (102 108) and females was 98 (96 – 101) But standardised
mortality ratios were 113 (109 – 117) and 108 (105 – 112.) click
to view charts. Mortality ratios are higher in the North West than any other
Region and significantly higher than mortality in England and Wales overall.(Public
Health Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators.) The standardised registration
rate for colorectal cancer in females is lower than national average, but the
mortality is higher. This might indicate underreporting of incidence among females
in the North West, but this seems unlikely. If among females, incidence is truly
lower, but mortality is higher in the North West than in England and Wales, it
might indicate that females are less likely to be diagnosed early in the course
of the disease. This may in turn be caused by failure of women to report symptoms
to General Practitioners (GPs) or failure or delay by GPs to refer to specialists.
Can anyone offer a better
explanation? Do we need more research into this, so that we know where to target
public health activities?
Heart
Health in the North West [top]
British Heart Week is the
10th – 18th June. Levels of inactivity in children are reaching crisis point according
to a new report launched today by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The report
‘Couch Kids – the growing epidemic’ has been produced in response to the increasing
concern that fewer active children will result in more premature deaths from coronary
heart disease in later life. The report is part of a new ‘Get Kids on the Go’
campaign launched today the 5th June by the BHF for British Heart Week 2000. The
report is a compilation of research into children’s activity levels and includes
a series of BHF recommendations for parents, teachers and young people aimed at
getting children more active.
The report highlights the
decline in physical education in schools and the need for an integrated approach
between national government, local authorities and schools to halt it. The collated
figures illustrate a rapid decline in children’s activity levels in England and
Wales over the last ten years.
The report reveals:
- School PE lessons are the
only physical activity in which 30% of 11-16 year olds participate
- Secondary schools in England
and Wales allocate less time to PE than anywhere else in Europe
- Primary schools in England
and Wales have more than halved the amount of amount of time allocated to PE lessons
over the past five years
- Car journeys to school
have doubled in the last 20 years with almost 30% of pupils now being ferried
from door to door
The report makes a series
of recommendations including:
- The Department of Health
should implement a national health programme to promote the BHF’s recommendation
of an hour’s exercise a day.
- Schools and local authorities
should work together to maximise opportunities for physical activity, including
extra-curricular programmes and give greater community access to school leisure
facilities.
- The Department of Culture,
Media and Sport Sports Strategy should promote a wide range of sporting and non-sporting
activities to all young people.
- The Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions should extend its programme of offering advice to schools
on developing travel plans, prioritising cycling and walking over car use.
- Playgrounds should be redesigned
to promote play and a range of physical activities.
British
Heart Week [top]
Activities organised for
this week in the region include;
- Morecambe Bay Walk – Saturday
10 June
- Ellesmere Port Flag Day
10 June
- Flag Days Neston 16 , Bebington/Bromborough
17 June
- Sponsored Swim, Newcastle
Under Lyne 17 June
- Balloon launch from Blackpool
prom – Sunday 18 June
Contact person is Mrs Lynn
Brown – (+44) 151 236 6988
Further information about
the British Heart Foundation can be found on their website at; http://www.bhf.org.uk/
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