A council report to be considered at next week's Executive meeting has highlighted the challenges posed by poor diet for the city. The Strategic Needs Assessment for York highlights not only the unhealthy diet of many local people but its impact in terms of obesity levels. Labour's health spokesperson, Coun. Tracey Simpson-Laing said:

"Only a quarter of those at secondary school have indicated they eat the recommended 5-a-day of fruit and vegetables. It seems as though from this age on, a pattern is set with only around 30% of adults eating healthily, which is a worry.

Coun. Tracey Simpson-Laing says that York's figures for overweight children differ from those reported nationally, but that both make for worrying reading. Local figures for 2006/7 showed that 8.4% of children in Reception year were overweight or at risk of obesity (9.9% nationally), while the corresponding figures for year 6 pupils were 15.6% (17.5% nationally).
The council report, authored by the Associate Director for Public Health for York and North Yorkshire PCT, says that obesity is one of the biggest threats to the health of the population in the future. Coun. Simpson-Laing added:

"The report says the figures for those aged 16 and above who are registered with a GP and are obese is 9.4% for York. This is much higher than the national average and could also be lower than the actual percentage as not everyone sees his or her GP regularly. But overall, estimates indicate nearly a quarter of people living in York are obese. As well as the burden on health services, this will be having a seriously negative effect on people's lives.

"We need to consider whether what we are doing currently is enough to reverse this trend. Everyone has a role to play in this, and often just educating people as to how they can eat healthily on a budget can make a real difference".
Over the summer Coun. Simpson-Laing welcomed the Government's announcement that from this month, parents of children weighed and measured at school through the National Child Measurement Programme can receive their child's results if their local PCT is willing to send them out. The aim of this intiative is to make parents more aware of the importance of healthy lifestyles, so they can help their children achieve a healthy weight.

Coun. Simpson-Laing is again asking the PCT to declare whether it will support the Government's call to inform York parents of their children's weight and health before these tests start.