Wolverhampton obesity crisis: Five year action plan passed

According to the most recent figures 69.8 per cent of the city's adults fall into overweight or obese categories, with 26.4 per cent of four to five year olds overweight or obese. A total of 41.8 per cent of ten to eleven year olds also fall into the same category.

The new five year scheme will see the council provide opportunities for the parents of young children to learn about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and increase participation in physical activity and encourage people to be healthier.

It will also support overweight and obese women to keep their weight gain during pregnancy.

The Obesity Call to Action Plan was formulated after it was revealed the city is suffering from serious health issues, with the number of overweight and obese residents significantly worse than national and comparative areas.

Cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, Sandra Samuels, said: "We need to do far more and make good use of the information we have gathered to help the people of this city, as obesity is a ticking time bomb.

"There is no short term fix to this problem and it will take a long time to address the issues of obesity.

"We aim to take different approaches hoping to underline the principles of the action plan, such as a whole systems approach, which will be a city wide, inclusive plan.

"We will also be using our assets in a different way to achieve better outcomes and adopt a life course approach which benefits all ages, finding out what works for different residents with different behaviours.

"The five year draft plan sets out the high level actions required to tackle obesity within the city."

Coinciding with the Action Plan and with health being a 'major issue for the city', a final decision will also be put forward to the full council, supporting to publish the Public Health Annual Report 2014/15.

The report aims to promote healthy lifestyle choices, reduce risk and prevent lifestyle related disease across short term, medium and long term plans.

The report focuses on the prevention of smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and substance misuse.

Councillors were in full agreement that the major causes of premature deaths in Wolverhampton were the results of 'preventable' conditions, which were linked to poor lifestyle choices.

Chair of the cabinet Roger Lawrence said: "This council is committed to keeping people out of the clutches of the NHS by promoting healthy lifestyles.

"A prevention plan and strategy is long overdue for the city's residents."