Taxpayer picks up obesity burden

Aug 19 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

CASH intended to pay for safeguarding vulnerable children and helping dementia sufferers is being drained as North councils struggle to meet the rising cost of obesity.

Council leaders have warned the taxpayer will have to pay out as local authorities are placed under more pressure to look after the growing number of housebound people suffering from obesity-related health conditions.

Many North councils are already unable to pay for early stage dementia care as social service departments are stretched to breaking point, and the region’s shameful health record is set to cost even more as obesity rates rise.

North East spending chiefs are already struggling to adapt to rising bills related to the increase in overweight children.

Councillors say schools are having to order wider furniture for larger children and to meet new standards, with chairs costing up to £30 each.

Social service departments are also having to raid council reserves to provide obese people with adaptations for their houses and pay for walking aids.

And yet more cash is being diverted to crematoriums as the number of overweight bodies too large for conventional cremators continues to increase. Wear Valley councillors last year approved plans for a Bishop Auckland crematorium which can take coffins up to 43 inches wide, far bigger than the conventional 30-inch coffin.

It was recently revealed Sunderland Royal Hospital is hiring about £300,000-worth of special beds, including four for the morbidly obese and 152 to cater for patients who are heavier than normal.

Councils have now said one option may be to take legal action against parents who allow their children to become obese, making the health concerns a child protection issue.

Head of the North East Assembly Alex Watson said legal action would be a step too far, but the obesity pressures were a very real threat for the region’s finance bosses as Government officers continue to withhold much-needed extra cash. He said: “Obesity is placing a strain on the NHS, a strain on councils and in particular on our schools.

“And with the limited resources available to use, councils are going to find it extremely difficult to cope with rising costs.

“A big part of our problem is that the Government is expecting councils to do more, but is not providing the extra grants to help make real changes.

“If they changed the way money is handed out so that regions received funding based on their need rather than their population, we would see real changes, but instead we have to do what we can from our regular funds.”

The obesity concerns come as department stores prepare for another year of parents seeking out clothes for larger children. Newcastle store John Lewis sells clothing for primary school pupils up to a 40-inch waist.

The Local Government Association’s public health spokesman David Rogers said: “Obesity is increasingly costing the council taxpayer dear.

“It falls to social services to care for the housebound obese adults, to invest money in encouraging people to be active and to replace school furniture that is just too small for larger pupils.

“Council equipment and infrastructure is having to be modified to deal with a population that is getting larger and larger.”

Region badly afflicted

THE North East’s obesity problem has been made clear in a host of health studies in recent years, with all revealing the region to be among the worst in the UK.

In Gateshead alone about 12% of reception-age pupils are obese and nearly a quarter overweight.

They are some of the fattest in the UK, where the average is less than 9%.

Across the region, Government figures show, one in five children aged 10 or 11 is obese.

They are often following a pattern set by their parents, with 20% of North East adults thought to be overweight or obese. By 2050, health chiefs believe as many as 70% of men aged 20 to 60 living in the region are likely to be obese, and 65% of women.

Earlier this year, health bosses pledged to bring the rates down by promoting healthy eating and encouraging more children to exercise.

Newcastle director of public health Dr Danny Ruta said: "The number of children who are overweight or obese comes as no surprise to those involved in supporting children and families to be as healthy as they can.

"We know that being overweight or obese is a significant factor in ill health and the Government quite rightly wants the NHS, councils, children and their parents to work together to help people become healthier.

"The good news is that there is plenty of advice and support available from the local council, schools, local leisure services and from the NHS, including the school nurse, GP and health visitor."