THE issue of obesity in Thurrock’s primary schools has been highlighted in a statement from Public Health England.
The council’s portfolio holder for health, Cllr Barbara Rice, said: “It’s disappointing that Public Health England issued their statement and its emotive headline based simply on statistics and didn’t think to ask what we are doing about it.
“It is equally disappointing that Thurrock has been singled out in this way when obesity among children and the whole population is recognised as a nationwide problem, not one focused on our borough alone.
“Thurrock Council is aware of the issue and its Public Health team is working on tackling it.
“Although Public Health has only been part of the council’s responsibilities for 18 months – and was under-funded by over £1 million for most of the first year – the team has taken an innovative approach.
“The most high profile was the Beat the Streets campaign in the summer, a campaign which caught young people’s imagination although an estimated ten per cent of the borough’s population took part, walking more and being more physically active.
“Thurrock walked a collective 70 000 miles during the six week project which is one of the most successful active participation projects in the country.”
After the project closed, figures show there was a continuing seven per cent increase in the number of people meeting the recommended 30 minutes of exercise every day, daily.
Cllr Rice said: “We’re following up on Beat the Street with a new project – Thurrock World 100 – which will be a long-term scheme involving schools, children, and the community encouraging walking habits and linking in arts and culture.
“The project will be launched in January with the first phase in partnership with Kinetica and more details will be available then.
“But that’s just one project. School nurses will be funded to deliver weight management services including preventative interventions within their role. “We are and we will be working with families to ensure they have as much information as possible to manage their weight.
“The need to take a different approach to commissioning services means Thurrock is looking to use grants for providers to deliver services including prevention and intervention for children and families, working with communities including children and young people to help people change their behaviour and achieve a healthy weight.
“Since Public Health came to the council we’ve said tackling obesity and achieving a healthy weight is a key priority here and we are working with our partners in the NHS, education, transport, the community and voluntary sectors, and local businesses and families to address obesity and to reverse this worrying trend.”
