SERIOUSLY overweight children in York and North Yorkshire are to be sent to an NHS-funded “fat camp”, as health chiefs step up their fight against obesity.

Under new plans unveiled by NHS North Yorkshire and York, the fattest two per cent of children in the county will be eligible for a free place on the Carnegie Weight Management residential programme in Leeds.

The news comes as the latest figures reveal obese and overweight patients are costing North Yorkshire taxpayers nearly £190 million every year.

The shocking statistics were released by NHS North Yorkshire and York to mark the launch of the trust’s new strategy to tackle obesity.

Between now and 2013, it will plough £1.2 million into new services to help stamp out unhealthy lifestyles in the county.

Latest figures show the estimated annual cost to NHS North Yorkshire and York of treating diseases related to obesity and overweight people could rise to £207.1 million by the year 2015.

In 2007, these costs were estimated at £186.6 million.

City of York councillor John Galvin, who was last night named as the Lord Mayor of York for 2009/10, said: “This is a hell of a lot of money, especially when, in all honesty, many of us could do a lot more to improve our health.

“I’m in no way a supporter of a nanny state, but I can understand the need for initiatives to encourage people to keep healthy both for their own sake and for the sake of the taxpayer.

“But it’s not all about having campaigns and saying don’t eat this and don’t do that – somebody somewhere has got to provide the facilities to give people the chance to be active.

“Everybody knows that York is desperately short of football pitches and swimming pools.”

Last year’s mass weigh-in of children in York and North Yorkshire revealed 1,700 reception-class children were too fat – that is 25 per cent of the total number of school starters.

Meanwhile, more than 2,110 youngsters in Year Six weighed in as overweight or obese – that is 30 per cent.

York GP Dr Brian McGregor, director of North Yorkshire’s local medical committee, said: “A lot of people vilify the overweight and say it’s their own fault, but that doesn’t mean you can’t offer them help.

“If you can offer them help now for a reasonable cost that is going to save us a massive cost in the future, that’s good business.

“If we can offer children a couple of weeks of residential care now, that could prevent them having a heart attack or stroke in the future, and that has to be worth it.”

Rachel Johns, associate director of public health at NHS North Yorkshire and York, said reducing childhood obesity had become a top priority.

She said: “Our Healthy Weight, Active Lives strategy maps out how we plan to achieve this with help from our partners.

“Our shared aim is to help parents understand the health risks of their children being overweight and support them in changing behaviours around diet and activity. Poor diets and low levels of exercise are fuelling a national obesity epidemic which, if left unchecked, will cost the NHS billions of pounds in the future.

“With our partner organisations we have identified childhood obesity as a local priority as we look to halt the likely rise over future years.”


‘I didn’t want to end up spending half of my life going to the doctor’

THREE years ago Julie Pearce was in danger of developing obesity-related diabetes.

She weighed 15 stone, suffered from high blood pressure and was facing a future of medication and endless trips to the doctor.

But the news that she was at high-risk of developing diabetes shocked Julie into action and the 46-year-old accountant decided to change her lifestyle.

Within nine months, she had lost five stone and dropped from size 22 to a size 12.

The accountant, who lives in Bishopthorpe, said she was happy to think she had saved the NHS hundreds of pounds by taking responsibility for her health.

“At the time, I never really thought that I was a burden on the NHS, I was more concerned about my own health.

“I didn’t want to end up spending half of my life going to the doctor, getting tablets and checking my blood.

“Having lost the weight, I don’t need to take the tablets for my high blood pressure any more and I’ve come right out of the diabetes danger zone.

“I now understand how to manage my weight – I’m aware of what I should eat to be healthy and I exercise a lot.

“I go to the gym, I run and I’ve also just started tap dancing, which I love.”

Julie, who also works as a confidence coach, said she was shocked to hear that obese and overweight patients cost North Yorkshire taxpayers an estimated £186 million in 2007.

“It would be much better if they spent the money on educating people about how easy it is to eat healthily and exercise,” she said.

But Julie said she was not opposed to seriously obese patients receiving stomach-stapling surgery on the NHS.

“It has to be a last resort for people who have tried every alternative, but if it’s going to save lives, then I think it is right for the NHS to pay for it,” she said.

York Hospital performs about 30 stomach stapling operations a year – each costing £6,000.

York GP David Fair, who practises at Jorvik Medical Practice, said: “I think it’s impossible to find a clear moral and ethical solution to the issue because on the one hand people should be taking responsibility for their own health and fitness, but on the other hand there do seem to be some people who find it impossible to control their own exercise and eating.

“I admit that I do find it difficult to justify spending NHS money on gastric stapling when other people in the NHS who are completely innocent and deserve to have money spent on them for things like cancer drugs are being denied them.”


NHS strategy aims

* To increase the number of mothers who breastfeed for at least six months, as reports have shown a significantly reduced risk of breastfed babies becoming overweight children.

* To ensure all children are doing at least two hours of high quality PE each week and to offer every child and young person aged five to 19 an extra three hours a week of sporting activities through schools, clubs and community providers.

* For all schools to gain the status of a Healthy School.

* To encourage more eligible families to sign up to the Healthy Start scheme, which offers a set of vouchers to be exchanged for milk and fresh fruit and vegetables from registered shops.

* To improve access to appropriate advice and information on healthy weight.

* To offer training to health and non-health professionals so they feel confident in sensitively raising the issue of weight with those who are overweight or obese.

* To pilot a range of different approaches, for example using personal financial incentives, to encourage healthy living.

* To commission a range of multi-disciplinary weight management services for children and families – including funding places on a residential “fat camp”.


What happens at ‘fat camp’?

* Carnegie Weight Management, in Leeds, offers a residential programme for eight to 17-year-olds who are seriously obese. There is a minimum of a two-week stay.

* Campers get 24-hour support and are taught the skills and knowledge to manage their weight successfully when they return home.

* Children take part in lots of different types of physical.

activity, ranging from dodgeball to kick-boxing * Campers lose on average 2lb to 4lb per week and increase their fitness levels by an average of 20 per cent.

* 75 per cent of campers continue to lose weight or maintain their weight after three years.

* Other results include higher attendance at school, stronger family relationships and more involvement in extra-curricular activities at school.


Rising costs

Estimated annual costs to NHS North Yorkshire and York of diseases related to overweight and obese patients:

2007 — £186.6 million
2010 — £193.6 million
2015 — £207.1 million