Lincolnshire councillor calls for colleagues to take the lead over obesity issues

A Lincolnshire county councillor suggested his fellow members should lead by example and get more physical, as a new pilot scheme is launched to tackle obesity in children.

Councillor Andrew Key opened up about his own battles with weight as councillors discussed the issues with obesity in the county.

It comes as the authority launched a new Child and Family Weight Management Service (CFWM) this month.

Councillors were told that obesity is a “growing issue” in Lincolnshire, as more than two-thirds of county’s population are classed as overweight or obese according to public health data.

Councillor Key told the committee: “I’ve struggled with my weight and have done really all my adult life.

“I’ve been to slimming groups where I have been the man sitting there and I’ve lost three stone over a period again.”

However, he said: “I don’t know what’s more irritating – if you have fit and healthy people telling you what to do, or overweight people sat telling you what to do.”

“It’s all right for us to sit here and talk about it, but maybe we need to do something about it ourselves”

He suggested that a new scheme for staff could be created, adding: “If we’re going to try and influence the actions of other people, we need to be basically someone who is, and I feel very uncomfortable trying to tell people what to do when I have the problem myself.”

A new pilot Child and Family Weight Management Service has launched this month which hopes to remove the stigma from getting children to tackle weight issues.

The project, which children can access via referral, will supplement school support for those aged 0-19 and will aim to take a holistic approach around wellbeing and lifestyle rather then just focusing on weight.

The service would be non-stigmatising and be attractive to parents who do not recognise their child as overweight, both of which have “traditionally been significant barriers against participation” said a report to councillors.

The service will be offered countywide, but activities will concentrate on areas with the highest levels of need.

Reports before the Lincolnshire County Council Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee say 68% of Lincolnshire’s population are overweight or obese, higher than the national average of 63%.

Data from 2019/20 found that in Lincolnshire just over a quarter (25.6%) of reception age children and over a third (36.4%) of Year 6 children were overweight. Again both above the England averages of 23% and 35.2% respectively.

Andy Fox, Lincolnshire County Council’s Consultant in Public Health said obesity was an “area of real complexity” and there was “no single easy solution” to the problem due to issues surrounding deprivation, mental health, advertising, wider environmental concerns and more.

Professor Derek Ward, Director of Public Health, told councillors: “It’s taken 30-40 years to get where we are, it’s an oil tanker that’s going to take a long time to turn around.”

However, both agreed that the problem was linked to some of the main reasons for health problems in the county, including diabetes and cancer.

Obesity is expected to cost the NHS around £10billion a year nationally.

Mr Fox said the problem was only getting worse for the most deprived areas. It comes as people face rising energy, fuel and shopping prices in the cost of living crisis.

Mr Fox hoped government solutions would prevent that, but added: “We would expect any pressure that takes free time and money off people, spare resources, disposable income, would make the situation harder for everybody in that population to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“So we would certainly expect it to, if those pressures increase to long-term, see a corresponding deteriorating picture.”

Councillors also discussed lobbying government to do more about the ease of access to, and advertising of “poor foods” and increasing opportunities for physical activity around the county.