Hartlepool's open spaces key to tackling obesity, says health chief

It comes following the release of the 2019 annual report of the director of public health at Hartlepool Borough Council, which has the theme of ‘obesity prevention and physical activity in Hartlepool’.

The report notes 7 in 10 adults in Hartlepool are classed as overweight or obese, along with 44% of children at the age of 11.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier in 2020 that tackling obesity was also important in the fight against coronavirus, as it was one of the conditions which could left people more vulnerable to the disease.

Craig Blundred, acting director of public health, presented the findings to the health and wellbeing board, emphasising the importance of everyone working together to tackle the issue.

He noted key to this is utilising the parks and open spaces in Hartlepool to enable people to carry out exercise such as walking and cycling.

He said: “Working with the residents of Hartlepool is a true partnership approach to help them to achieve a healthy weight.

“There are many different activities going on across different departments in the council, and also working with partners to encourage people to achieve a healthier weight and engage in physical activities to help them to do this.

“Cycling and walking is really helpful as it helps people to build physical activity into their everyday life.

“Looking at our parks and coastline these are really important assets we have in the town which also help people to maintain a healthier weight through increased physical activity.

“Good quality parks and open space encourages people to go out and walk and cycle and that’s really beneficial to their health.”

The annual report notes one in three children in Hartlepool are physically active, along with just under 60% of adults.

Mr Blundred added work has also been ongoing with the planning department at the council to restrict the number of takeaways in the town to encourage healthy eating.

A number of planned takeaways have been refused in Hartlepool on health grounds in recent months.

He said: “This is really beneficial as it reduces the amount of high-calorie and high-fat food that’s available to people and has been really successful in limiting the number of takeaways we have.”

Work has also been ongoing to help encourage breastfeeding among new mothers where possible, with health chiefs noting it has short and long term benefits.

Mr Blundred said: “Breastfeeding is really important in terms of improving the health of the child and it has a long term effect on being able to reduce the incidents of overweight children as they grow older.”

Officers also noted leisure centres and services are offering activities looking at both physical exercise and healthy eating to help support residents.

They added they are also working with NHS partners to look at service provision for people who may have excess weight to help them lose it.

The annual document was produced as a digital report for the first time to increase the accessibility of it, which was praised by council officers and councillors.

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