The Strategic Director of Health and Wellbeing will submit Document “Q” to brief the Committee on the issue of obesity across the district. 

The aim of the report is to inform the committee of the threat to the public’s health due to the issue of obesity/overweight within the Bradford population. The objective of the report is to provide factual and relevant information, in order for members to have better knowledge and understanding of the issue. The Public Health Directorate request support from the committee to tackle the issue of employing a whole system approach. 

Recommended –

That activity undertaken on obesity prevention and early intervention be noted and that the Committee provide any feedback and/or comments.

(Alison Moore – 01274 435387)

The Strategic Director of Health and Wellbeing submitted Document “Q” to brief the Committee on the issue of obesity across the district. 

The aim of the report was to inform the Committee of the threat to the public’s health due to the issue of obesity/overweight within the Bradford population. The objective of the report was to provide factual and relevant information, in order for Members to have better knowledge and understanding of the issue. Support was sought from the Committee to tackle the issue of employing a whole system approach. 

A Senior Manager in Public Health introduced the report and provided a presentation which included the following information; that 69.7% of Bradford residents (300,000 people) were overweight; obesity in Year 6 children was 35.7% and in Reception Year was 19.9%; being overweight caused ill-health but the costs were hidden e.g. social care, primary care, secondary care, employment and education; and there were clear links to poverty, ethnicity and under-nutrition.  The development of  a whole system approach was outlined and workshops were due to be carried out shortly to consider how this could be done strategically.

A Member spoke about weight gain being a side effect of some medication.  He suggested more access to counselling for people on medication for their mental health. A correlation between depression and over-eating was also highlighted.

A Member considered that there was a need to concentrate on making changes in areas that were within the authority’s control such as in schools and with children in care.  Links between poverty and obesity were also highlighted and a suggestion was made to work with Pay As You Feel Cafés and Food Banks which, although delivering a vital service for those in receipt, mostly gave out tinned rather than fresh food.  In response it was stated that Public Health supported Food Banks across the district and, whilst it was acknowledged that nutrition of the food tended to be a secondary factor and there were difficulties with storing perishable food, there was work being undertaken to look at ways to improve this.

A Member spoke of a school initiative she had seen where children were asked to run for a short length of time.  It was stated that this was called The Daily Mile and it was supported by Public Health but it was up to individual schools to take it up.  A discussion followed about physical activity within schools, the impending sugar tax and the need to have policy translated into layman’s terms.

The Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder stated that a meeting was being held next Friday which would consider what work had been effective in helping to reduce obesity.  She spoke of the need to scale up measures and referred to methods which had been used by Wigan Council which had helped to reduce obesity levels; all primary schools in Wigan were signed up to The Daily Mile.  She considered that Bradford could deliver many initiatives at very little cost to make the best and most effective use of its budget.

In response to Members’ questions it was reported that:

·         Work to address obesity was being scaled up and targeted in areas of greatest need.  The issue of obesity was evident in all of the district’s wards.

·         Projects being undertaken with the voluntary sector reached approximately 7,000 people a year.  82% of these projects were working well and delivering the required outcomes; only a few would be questioned on their activities.  There were 27 providers in total.

·         A whole system approach would provide more targeted work which would be scaled up to reach more people, particularly those in areas of deprivation and greatest need.

·         Officers had considered that there may be resistance from schools to implement The Daily Mile.

The importance of early interventions in the first year of a child’s life was stressed.

A Member stated that she had good links with schools in her ward (Queensbury) and would speak to them to encourage take up of the The Daily Mile; she urged other Councillors to do so in their wards too.  Members considered that it was possible to implement it with schools across the district, particularly as there was evidence to show that it reduced obesity levels in children and increased educational performance.

A Member stated there were numerous simple things that could be implemented to tackle obesity e.g. considering the food available in hospitals, having a water only policy in school and not allowing children to buy from takeaways during school lunchtimes.  In relation to suggestions regarding hospitals, the Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder stated that the Council was not able to instruct hospitals and those measures would need to be done in agreement.  She also spoke about ‘nudge’ techniques to encourage healthier eating.

A Member referred to a cook book that members of a ‘food and mood’ group had produced containing recipes with  natural serotonin to boost dopamine.  He stated it would be beneficial for this to be distributed to hospitals.

A discussion ensued about cook and eat sessions and Members were informed that there were 84 Council-funded cook and eat programmes running across the district.

Members spoke of the importance of educating children leaving care to make healthy food choices and for children and young people to be consulted to find out what they considered would work to help them eat healthier.  A Member added that there needed to be a degree of sensitivity when targeting and sending messages to schools due to bullying in schools relating to obesity.

In response to a question relating to the tendering process for activities, the Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder stated that the tender had been delayed from going out under her authority due to the Healthy Weight Board being set up; she considered it to be counter-intuitive for the tender to go out until a strategy had been decided by the Health and Wellbeing Board.

In response to a Member’s question regarding working with supermarkets, it was stated that this had not been done due to a lack of resources, however, some of the smaller supermarkets had already made changes in their stores to promote healthier eating and some of the funded projects undertook supermarket tours to educate people about healthy foods.

Resolved –

(1)       That efforts to impact on this issue on a wider scale be supported.

(2)       That a further report be submitted during the 2017/18 municipal year from the Healthy Weight Board setting out its identified priorities and information on what is currently known to be working effectively.

ACTION:  Strategic Director of Health and Wellbeing