7:51am Tuesday 7th October 2008
By Anika Bourley
Ignorant parents were today blamed for adding to £142 million being spent in Bradford on dealing with problems caused by being overweight.
A staggering £142.6 million was forked out last year as a result of people being overweight or obese in the district.
And it is predicted to rise to £158.3 million in 2015 if action is not taken.
Information published for the first time shows a breakdown of the cost of obesity to every primary care trust in England and revealed nationally the cost to the NHS was £4.2 billion last year with predictions of £6.3 billion in 2015.
And, according to research included in a report from the Department of Health, parents “incapable” of cooking and not recognising their children are overweight is fuelling the problem.
Among women in Yorkshire and Humberside, obesity levels are estimated to reach 65 per cent by 2050 compared with the south-west of England where the predicted level is only seven per cent.
For men in the region it is 70 per cent by 2050. However, the region boasts the lowest rates for the number of boys overweight or obese at 26 per cent.
A Bradford and Airedale tPCT spokesman said: “Our obesity prevention team now delivers 14 programmes aiming to prevent obesity and excess weight.
“Examples include Bradford Encouraging Exercising People (BEEP), exercise on referral initiatives, Healthwise, nutritional skills training, walking programmes and community weight management.
“Obesity is a huge issue nationally and it is one of the top priorities across Bradford and Airedale.”
Bradford Council also has many initiatives including offering children b active packs with free vouchers for swimming and free activity sessions, leaflets on weight control healthy eating and the activity centres.
Health chiefs will be given a toolkit called Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Toolkit for Developing Local Strategies. It will help them tackle obesity and encourage healthier lives.
It provides advice on how health professionals can support people in the area and sets out reasons why it is such a growing problem.
The document claims research found a lack of knowledge, confidence and skills is the main barrier which stops parents cooking from scratch, and parents underestimate how much unhealthy food and convenience food they buy. Families also use snacks as rewards with some parents of older children worrying about not feeding them enough and risks of eating disorders including anorexia.
Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said: “Obesity is the biggest health challenge we face.”
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