THERE is a certain kind of person who likes to snigger when they see someone who is overweight. How cruel and petty that attitude is. Obesity is a serious problem, carrying serious health implications.

It leads to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, arthritis and even cancer. And it can have a devastating effect on self-esteem, causing anxiety and depression.

Health bosses in North Yorkshire estimate that treating obese and overweight patients in our area costs the taxpayer nearly £190 million every year.

And the problem is getting worse. Already, about a quarter of children starting school are overweight. By the time they reach Year 6, that has risen to 30 per cent.

If the trend continues, by 2015 health bosses expect obesity will cost the NHS in North Yorkshire more than £207 million.

That is a lot of money – and even more importantly, it is a lot of misery, ill-health and even premature, unnecessary death.

Now health bosses have unveiled a strategy to tackle the problem.

Between now and 2013, the NHS in North Yorkshire will invest £1.2 million in new services designed to help reduce obesity.

The measures will focus primarily on children. New mothers will be encouraged to breastfeed their babies for up to six months, which is said to reduce the risk of obesity.

There will be efforts to encourage more children to do at least one hour of moderate exercise a day, and to get more families to sign up to a healthy lifestyle programme.

North Yorkshire children might even be sent to NHS-funded fat camps for youngsters who are seriously overweight.

All of these measures make a great deal of sense. Being fat is no joke. It is good to see health bosses treating the problem with the level of seriousness it deserves.