Skip to main content
Mayor of London logo London Assembly logo
Home

Giving London’s children the best start in life

School boy eating apple
Created on
27 November 2017

A key objective in the Mayor’s draft Health Inequalities Strategy is to give London’s children the best start in life.



How will he do this? A considerable number of London’s children have health problems, which can have far reaching consequences for later life.

  • Almost 1 in 4 children in reception year are overweight or obese.
  • 1 in 3 five year olds in London have tooth decay.
  • Immunisation rates are consistently lower in London than the rest of England.
  • Babies born in London are more likely to be of low birth weight, than in England as a whole.
  • Breastfeeding rates are lower in London than England as a whole.

The London Assembly Health Committee will tomorrow discuss the Mayor of London’s plans to improve child health in London. The Committee will delve into what the proposed Healthy Early Years Programme for London will entail. The guests are:

  • Amanda Coyle, Assistant Director of Health, Education and Youth, Greater London Authority
  • Melanie Pilcher, Quality and Standards Manager, Pre-school Learning Alliance
  • Laura Payne, Project Manager, 4in10 Campaign Network
  • David Millard, Managing Director, Health Education Partnership
  • Nicky Elkins, Regional Compliance Advisor, Busy Bees

The meeting will also discuss the NHS’s plan to digitally transform the traditional paper Redbook – the personal health record given to all new parents to manage their child’s health. The eRedbook aims to enable better data sharing between parents and health professionals. How will it be rolled out across London and how will the data be kept secure? The guests are:

  • Kenny Gibson, Head of Public Health Commissioning (London), NHS England
  • Daniel Moulin, e-RedBook Programme Director
  • Corinna Dymond, Digital Health Consultant

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, 28 November at 10:00am in The Chamber at City Hall (The Queen’s Walk, London SE1).



Media and members of the public are invited to attend.



The meeting can also be viewed LIVE via webcast or YouTube

Follow us @LondonAssembly and take part in the meeting discussion using #AssemblyHealth and #HealthyStart

Notes to editors

  1. Full agenda papers
  2. Dr Onkar Sahota AM, Chair of the Health Committee is available for interview. See contact details below.
  3. London Assembly Health Committee
  4. As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.

For media enquiries, please contact Lisa Lam on 020 7983 4067.  For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officerNon-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.

Need a document on this page in an accessible format?

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of a PDF or other document on this page in a more accessible format, please get in touch via our online form and tell us which format you need.

It will also help us if you tell us which assistive technology you use. We’ll consider your request and get back to you in 5 working days.