Obesity rates for adults in the Wessex region (which includes the Isle of Wight) were released by Public Health England (PHE) today.
Unfortunately, the figures are not great. Sandwiched between Southampton (64.8%) and Hampshire (65.1%), they reveal that a whopping 64.9% of the Island’s adult population are overweight or obese.
Obesity in children
PHE say the rate of increase has slowed in adults in recent years and levels in children are stabilising.
The prevalence of obesity in children from Reception classes is 32.8%, whilst the prevalance of obesity in Year 6 children is 19.1%.
Committed to tackling obesity
Dr Jim O’Brien, Wessex Public Health England Centre Director said:
“Public Health England is committed to helping tackle the levels of people who are overweight and obese in Wessex by supporting our local authorities to develop a broad programme of action to reduce levels of excess weight.
“There is no silver bullet to reducing obesity. It is an issue that requires action at national, local, family and individual level. Local authorities are ideally placed to develop co-ordinated action across their departments, services and partner organisations to tackle overweight and obesity in the local population.
“This new data will enable local councils to monitor progress towards the national ambition of achieving a downward trend in excess weight by 2020. Today’s information will help local authorities to understand the extent of the problem in their area and support their on-going efforts to tackle overweight and obesity and improve the health of their local population.”
Image: Tony Alter under CC BY 2.0
