Mike Hedges AM welcomes announcement for Actions
to address the greatest public health challenge of our generation – obesity
Speaking after the launch, Swansea East AM
said…. Obesity is one of the great challenges of our time; we can all see with
our own eyes the increase in number of overweight people and children. We know
that changes to life style such as children playing on computers rather than
going out to play in local parks or play grounds. We need to see a sea change
in people’s attitudes to diet and exercise – how many parents now take their
children to and from school by car over relatively short distances, walking to
and from school would be good for everyone and reduce car pollution and
congestion around schools. Reducing obesity will have big benefits for
everyone. I hope that everyone will complete the survey so we can move forward
in dealing with this blight to our health’
A consultation on the Welsh Government’s new plan to combat the
greatest public health challenge facing Wales – obesity – has been launched by
Health Minister Vaughan Gething.
Called
‘Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales’, the
consultation outlines the actions to be taken to help people in Wales maintain
a healthy weight.
The UK has one of the
highest levels of obesity in Western Europe. In Wales, twenty seven percent of
four-five year olds and sixty percent of our adults are overweight.
Being overweight increases
the risk of developing major health conditions such as coronary heart disease,
type 2 diabetes and some cancers. It is also a risk to people’s mental health
leading to low self-esteem, depression and anxiety.
The proposals set out in
the consultation have a strong focus on prevention and are supported by research
and international evidence from Public Health Wales into what can help the
people to be a healthy weight.
The evidence has informed
the content of the plan which is broken into four themes:
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