Healthy Eating and Drinking

Unhealthy Weight in Southwark

How many people are an unhealthy weight in Southwark?

Adults

In 2009, almost a quarter of adults (22% of men and 24% of women aged 16 or over) in England were classified as obese (BMI 30kg/m2 or over). 38% of adults had a raised circumference in 2009 compared to 23% in 1993. Whilst we do not have actual data for Southwark we can estimate that rates may be similar if not higher for Southwark residents due to the makeup of our population. 2.3% of adults nationally were underweight. (Health Survey for England, 2009)

Children

When Southwark children were measured at the beginning of 2010, 14.8% of reception children (4-5 years) were found to be obese and a further 15% were overweight. This was the highest rate of obesity in England. Of the children measured in Year 6 (10-11 years), 25.7% were obese and a further 14.5% were overweight. This rate was third highest in England. 1.1% of children were underweight. (National Child Measurement Programme for Southwark 2009/10)

What causes unhealthy weight?

Both underweight and overweight and obesity is an imbalance between energy consumed (food and drink) and energy expended (exercise and activities of daily living). However, it often more complicated. Our decisions about how much and what we eat and how much energy we burn by physical activity is affected by many things including genetic, psychological, cultural and behavioural factors.

The Foresight report on obesity showed that the changing pattern of our lives makes it increasingly hard for us to maintain a healthy weight.

In Southwark, we have an important role in helping individuals, but also in persuading every part of our borough to recognise and help tackle the problem and tackle the environment we live in which may be contributing to us becoming an unhealthy weight.

The Southwark Healthy Weight Strategy

The approach to tackling obesity in Southwark ranges from prevention through to treatment in hospital. Southwark has the Southwark Healthy Weight Strategy and steering group, which includes representatives of various bodies across the borough including Southwark Council and the local NHS. The group looks at what can be done collectively to increase awareness and resources to tackle the issue and direct actions.

The Southwark Pro-active group is linked to the Southwark Healthy Weight Strategy group and oversees sport and physical activity in the borough and aims to increase participation by local people.

Some examples of some of the work overseen by the Healthy Weight Steering group from 2010 into 2011 are:

• Communications work with The Voice newspaper using Change4Life obesity campaign with the West African Community in the borough
• Healthy walks initiated from a number of GP practices
• Buggy walks in parks
• Training for walk leaders
• Southwark Superstars physical activity programme and the Family Wellbeing Programme developed for schools with high obesity rates
• Change4life workshops for parents in schools with the highest rates of obesity
• Level 1 and 2 training on healthy weight for adults and for children and for healthy eating and physical activity for African communities .

Priorities for 2011-12 include tackling the high rate of Reception year obesity in the borough by encouraging joint work in maternity and early years, continuing work in schools, working with selected takeaways to encourage take up the Healthier Catering Commitment, raising awareness and developing new projects for at-risk communities and developing treatment options for people in Southwark who have been found to be an unhealthy weight by an NHS health check.

For more information about the Southwark Healthy Weight Strategy please contact Christine Nolan-Bertuol in the Southwark Public Health Team Christine.nolan-bertuol@southwarkpct.nhs.uk

Further information on obesity National Obesity Observatory http://www.noo.org.uk

Statistics on obesity, physical activity and diet: England, 2011   

Training on healthy weight

The Southwark Health Improvement Training Team runs free courses on healthy weight. For more information email Lorraine.Baker@Southwarkpct.nhs.uk