Tackling obesity will be at the centre of a new public health campaign in Manchester led by Manchester City Council.
The new five-year Healthy Weight strategy aims to reverse the grip that obesity has on the city’s population with an approach which will look at ways to reduce the risk of obesity and offering support to maintain healthy lifestyles.
Social and health inequalities can negatively impact people's life chances and expectancy and during the pandemic there has been significant evidence linking obesity as a major contributing factor to an increased risk from Covid -19 .
The strategy led by Manchester's Population Health and Wellbeing team has been informed by a wide range of partners, all with an interest in improving health outcomes across the city, some of which included the voluntary sector and charities, health professionals, town planners, sports coaches, teachers and retailers.
Four themes emerged as a focus for action for the council and its partners, and these were: Food and Culture; Physical activity and exercise; Neighbourhood and Environment; Prevention and support.
David Regan, Director of Public Health said: "The obesity health crisis is not one that can be tackled in isolation, it is a complex area with many strands and is not just about focusing on unhealthy food choice and low levels of activity. Our new whole system approach looks at everything from parks and leisure facilities, licensing, and food outlets to transport and the built environment as well as looking at whether there is the right support to help people change their behaviour and encourage them to make the right choices in the future.
"We know that it isn't easy but even making small changes in eating and increasing activity levels can lead to improvements in health and wellbeing and often these gains are the impetus for people to go further and make even greater improvements. Our plan is to ensure that our work across every sector will give people the opportunity, knowledge and tools to make changes for the better."
Obesity is a major health crisis countrywide and in Manchester 63% of adults and 41% of children at Year 6 (age 10-11) were overweight or obese, before Covid -19 higher than the national average. It is estimated that the costs of disease related to being overweight and obesity during 2015 in Manchester cost £185.1million.
The strategy looks at what can be done throughout a person's life from pregnancy through to old age targeting interventions at each stage of life to encourage people to become more active, adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle, and to make improved choices to help reduce the risk of obesity. It has drawn best practice from cities in the UK and Europe where obesity rates have reversed and declined.
Some of the measures range from reducing food poverty and high fat and sugar foods, upskilling individuals to produce healthy food and to change consumer culture and behaviour and promoting active travel and opportunities for people to get involved in physical activity, particularly now that lockdown has eased and residents can take advantage again of health and fitness opportunities at local leisure centres. Consistent messaging, early interventions, school education programmes on healthy eating and lifestyles, access to food clubs which offer subsidised food are just some of the ways in which the partnership will be working to progress the strategy.
Councillor Joanna Midgley, executive member, Health and Care said: "The pandemic has brought into sharp focus the need for all of us to look after our health and fitness levels and we know that obesity has been a factor which led to increased risk of Covid-19. Our plan is ambitious but by creating the right environment and education to help people make better choices about eating healthy food and getting fit will be critical in tackling this obesity crisis. It is important that we take this action to improve the health and wellbeing of all our residents now and in the future."
Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, executive member for Neighbourhoods said: "Now that lockdown has eased and our leisure facilities are reopening, it is a great time to explore the help and support available to get more active. We all feel better when we're physically active and now we have the opportunity to take advantage of all that is on offer once again as restrictions on our lifestyles are being lifted,"
Funding of £500,000 from government will be used to deliver a programme of weight loss activities in the city.
Case study
BUZZ – is one of Manchester’s Health and wellbeing services which offers a physical activity referral service (PARS) that helps people living with long term health conditions to increase their levels of physical activity in a safe and structured way. This is now being piloted as an Under 18’s model across the city.
Tommy Birds is a resident who did a PARS class. He said:
"I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes treated with diet only and requested to be referred to PARS (physical activity referral service) after reading about it. I attended the exercise classes on a weekly basis. One of the things I liked about it was they tailored the exercises to suit my disability. Not only was it good to meet up with people, the exercises (which I also did at home) helped keep me fit. I have also lost nearly 4 stone now and the good news is that my sugars are now in the normal range, and I no longer have diabetes. I exercise at home every day now and not only is it keeping me fit it is also keeping me sane as it gives me something to focus on. If I hadn't attended the PARS classes I could possibly be on insulin now.”