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Deprived area pupils face high obesity rates

Edward RoweGloucestershire Political Reporter
PA Rows of pupils doing exams in a hall. Some are wearing blazers while others have white shirts on. There is a mix of girls and boys and all have their heads down and are facing their work so we can only see the backs of their heads.PA
Almost three in 10 Gloucestershire pupils in deprived areas are living with obesity by the time they leave primary school, according to the report

Nearly three in 10 Gloucestershire pupils from deprived areas of the county are obese or overweight by the time they leave primary school, according to a council report.

This compares to 14.8% of pupils from less deprived backgrounds who were overweight, the figures from Gloucestershire County Council showed.

The council's public health manager Callum Gutteridge said the most recent statistics showed the number of Year 6 pupils entering secondary school overweight was the equivalent of 37 bus loads of pupils.

The council said it was developing a healthy weight strategy to address some of the health inequalities children and adults faced.

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The research also found nearly three in 10 pupils in the most deprived areas were often skipping meals.

"Unhealthy weight is fundamentally an inequalities issue," said Gutteridge, during a meeting of Gloucestershire's health and well-being board.

The issue becomes more acute, he said, during the long summer holidays when those entitled to free school meals were unable to access them.

"Food poverty is a huge problem all over the country but in Gloucestershire as well summer holidays can be really challenging," said head of communities at YMCA Cheltenham Rob Charsley.

The charity is one of many that put on a number of events to keep children active and provide healthy meals.

"It's an opportunity for them to try food they perhaps haven't tried before to see how other people eat and what they eat," said Kirsty Allpress, chief executive officer at Bloodhound Education which hosts free events throughout Gloucestershire.

A young woman is pictured holding a little girl in what looks like a fair or festival setting. There are gazebos behind the pair. The woman has long blonde hair and is wearing a khaki T-shirt and sunglasses. She has the little girl's sunglasses - which are pink with white dots - hanging from the neckline of her T-shirt. The little girl is wearing a blue and white summer top and denim shorts.
Mother-of-three Kirsty has seen the cost of her food shop increase

Mother-of-three Kirsty, from Cheltenham, said she tended to rely on savings through apps over Christmas but admitted it is getting harder to buy food for her family because of rising costs.

"Our food shop at the minute is hitting £160 a week," she said. "It used to be about £100 to £120."

Atlanta, who also lives in Cheltenham with her two children Tobias and Noah, said she had found the cost of living had "massively" impacted her food shopping bill.

"I've recently started working but before that it was quite difficult," she said.

She said the family could only afford "rubbish cheaper brands" before she got her new job.

Another mother from the town, Lauren, said she often looked for bargains and offers on fruit and vegetables when shopping for her two children Bella and Addison.

"You can get a punnet of strawberries at £3.50 but you can get six packets of crisps for £1.50," she said.

"It just doesn't make sense."

'Shared ambition'

Councillor Paul Hodgkinson, cabinet member for health at the county council, said the strategy was part of a "shared ambition" to improve health outcomes for children in the region.

"[It's about] making this county a place where every resident has the opportunity to maintain a healthy weight," he said.

The proposals for the Healthy Weight Strategy are expected to go to the council for approval in either September or October.

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