Food & Health Alliance

Over the past six months, six Expert Working Groups (EWGs) have been working together to review the latest evidence in order to update the current 2011 CMO physical activity guidelines for the UK. These groups consist of UK and international experts in the field and cover the physical activity guidelines over four age groups:

1. Under 5s
2. Children and young people (6 – 18 years)
3. Adults (19 – 64 years)
4. Older adults (65 years plus)

There are also two EWGs that cover sedentary behaviour and how best to implement the guidelines and monitor physical activity throughout the UK:

5. Sedentary behaviour
6. Implementation and surveillance

The EWGs have drafted new evidence-based physical activity and sedentary behaviour recommendations for each age group, in a short technical report.

At this stage, we would like to invite you to attend our Scientific Consensus Meeting (SCM) in conjunction with the University of Bristol and the University of Edinburgh – Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC).  The purpose of the SCM is to allow Chairs and members of the EWGs, stakeholders, government members and communications and design experts to discuss and provide feedback on the technical reports produced by each EWG.  Another objective of the meeting is to identify any key issues regarding implementation of the guidelines and surveillance methods.  As someone with considerable experience and knowledge in the field, we feel it would be a great asset to have you or a representative of your organisation attend.

The meeting (one of two across the UK) will be held on Wednesday 20^th June at The University of Edinburgh, Paterson’s Land.  If you are interested in attending, please request a registration form from Vicki.mckechnie@gov.scot to be returned by 17.00 on Tuesday 15^th May.  We would like to ensure that there is equal interest for each EWG focus, so it is important that you indicate what EWG you are interested in on your form.  

Please be aware that there are a limited number of spaces, therefore, spaces may need to be allocated to allow for equal representation across each EWG focus. 

Your attendance at the meeting will be confirmed by Thursday 17^th May.

Please feel free to disseminate this invitation to any colleagues that you think may be interested in attending.