N
INE in 10 adults and two-
thirds of children will be
obese by 2050, according
to Government statistics.
But South Tyneside Primary Care
Trust (PCT) hopes to combat this with a
number of new services now in place.
Better Health, Fairer Health is a
regional campaign that aims to integrate
community-based treatment and support
services, to help with obesity.
As part of this, South Tyneside PCT has
introduced a five-tier programme to help
tackle obesity levels in both adults and
children.
It aims to provide activities for people
at risk of becoming obese and also offers
community-based weight management
programmes, exercise-on-referral
programmes and a specialist weight
management service.
Marc Hopkinson, public health
practitioner at NHS South of Tyne and
Wear, said: "Obesity levels are increasing
and they have been doing so for the past
30 years. It's a problem that is occurring
in both adults and children, and in both
men and women.
"What we are trying to do by
introducing the new schemes is to help
people look at their lifestyle and see how
they can adopt a healthier one."
So what is obesity?
Obesity can be measured in different
ways and an easy way is to simply step
on the scales and compare your actual
weight with your ideal weight (which any
health or diet book should give you).
The most scientific way to measure
your weight is to calculate your Body
Mass Index (BMI). This is your weight
in kilograms divided by your height in
metres squared.
In the UK, people with a BMI between
25 and 30 are categorised as overweight,
and those with an index above 30 are
categorised as obese. People with a BMI
of 40 or more are described as morbidly
obese.
Mr Hopkinson said: "Obesity is fast
becoming the developed world's biggest
health problem, with over 9,000 deaths a
year in England being caused by obesity.
"Adult obesity rates have almost
quadrupled over the last 25 years,
and two thirds of UK adults are now
considered overweight or obese. Of
these, 22 per cent of men and 23 per
cent of women are obese.
"This means that they are at least two
to three stone overweight and putting
their health at serious risk."
According to figures from the National
Audit Office, being obese can take up
to nine years off your lifespan. It also
makes you far more likely to develop a
range of health-related problems such
as diabetes, heart disease, high blood
pressure, infertility and depression.
Mr Hopkinson added: "Obesity does
not just happen overnight � it develops
gradually from poor diet and lifestyle
choices and, to some extent, from your
genes.
"Lifestyle choices are an important
factor in influencing your weight.
"Eating more calories than you need
may be down to poor food choices � for
example, eating high fat, processed or
fast food � rather than filling up on fruit,
vegetables and unrefined carbohydrates,
such as wholemeal bread and brown rice.
Alcohol also contains a lot of calories,
and heavy drinkers are often overweight.
"Bad eating habits also tend to run in
families � rather than inheriting a slow
metabolism, the habits learned from your
Be
your
own
fat
WELCOME to Best of Health:
Weightwise � the fourth in a series of
Gazette guides featuring all you need
to know about South Tyneside's major
health issues.
Each month, Best of Health � in
partnership with South Tyneside
Primary Care Trust � will put important
health issues under the microscope.
We'll be looking at how people can
reduce their risk of developing health
problems, as well as what help is on
offer in South Tyneside.
This month the focus is obesity ... and
the steps you can take to control it.
Page 2
Marc
Hopkinson
is helping
people
adopt a
healthier
lifestyle.
controller


Gazette

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8 Produced by PageSuite