Sadiq Khan calls for ‘water-only’ schools

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged all of London’s primary schools to become ‘water only’ in a bid to tackle childhood obesity across the capital.

Calling on boroughs to follow Southwark’s example and increase access to water in primary schools, Khan wants to halve the number of children living with obesity by 2030. London has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe with almost 40 per cent of children in Year 6 overweight or obese.

Making water freely available and introducing ‘water only’ schools – where just water and low-fat milk are allowed as drinks – was one of the ambitions of London’s Child Obesity Taskforce. To support schools the mayor also launched a new ‘water-only schools toolkit’ developed in partnership with Public Health England.

Khan said: “It’s high time we faced up to the reality that our city has a child obesity problem and I’m clear that we all have a role to play in helping Londoners make healthy choices. Making water freely available and introducing measures like ‘water-only’ in schools are just some of the simple things we can do to not only tackle childhood obesity, but also improve pupil behaviour and learning. I’m urging all schools in London to follow Southwark’s example and adopt the policy to help improve the life chances of all young Londoners.”