Carlisle is the most northerly city in England, and the ... - NHS Cumbria

Rates of obesity have dramatically increased in England over the past decade.With obesity being responsible for more than 9,000 premature deaths per year.Obesity is an important risk factor for a number of chronic diseases such as heart disease,stroke, some cancers, and type 2 diabetes.Obese people are more likely to suffer from a number of psychological problems such as lowself-image and confidence, social stigma, reduced mobility and a poorer quality of life.Table 8 illustrates the proportion of adults in Carlisle who were underweight, healthy, overweightand obese. Less than half the population were a healthy weight while more than half thepopulation were classed as being overweight or obese. Overall, a considerably higherproportion of men than women were overweight (42% of men compared to 29% of women),while the rates of obesity were similar between the sexes.The highest proportion of overweight men is in the 45 – 64 age groupTable 8: Body mass Index for Carlisle residents (2003)Underweight Healthy Overweight Obese5.3% 42.2% 36% 16.3%Childhood ObesityA major health target is to tackle the underlying determinants of ill health and health inequalitiesby halting the year-on-year rise in obesity among children. As a result the Department ofHealth has introduced a national process to weigh and measure the heights and weights ofreception age (4-5 year olds) and Year 6 (10-11 year olds) school children.The results of the audit show that in England 9.9% of reception age children were recorded asbeing obese compared to 10.1% in Cumbria. Carlisle appears to have higher levels of Maleobese (14.0%) children and Allerdale has the highest levels of female obese (10.7%) children.The obesity data for reception year pupils is shown in Figure 11.Figure 11: Childhood Obesity – Male and Female Reception Pupils: (2006/07)(Source: North West Public Health Observatory / Information16.0%14.0%13.7%14.0%12.0%Percentage10.0%(%)10.7%9.9%9.3%9.6%12.2%10.2%11.5%8.4%10.7%9.0%8.0%6.0%6.1%4.6%4.0%2.0%0.0%Allerdale Barrow Carlisle Copeland Eden South Lakeland EnglandAreaFiona Huntington 17 of 47