Obesity

Farhana Choudhury: Recent figures revealed that Obesity is costing London nearly £900 million a year in treatment costs and loss of earnings. Obese adults are costing the NHS in London £883.6 million each year based on the cost of treatment and loss of earnings through illness and premature death. Treating childhood obesity costs a further £7.1 million annually but experts say obese children will cost London’s economy £111 million each year if they remain so into adulthood.Childhood obesity levels in the capital are higher than the national average, with one in five youngsters classed as obese. In October 2010 James Cleverly, AM, Chair of the Health and Public Services Committee, said: “Childhood obesity has reached worrying levels in London to become a major public health concern. Obesity is already a significant drain on public finances and child obesity is a known risk factor for many future problems such as heart disease, some cancers and diabetes.”More recently he said “Childhood obesity is a major problem with serious health and economic consequences for London.“We know now that treating childhood obesity already costs London millions of pounds, so something must be done to stop today’s young people becoming obese adults.”“There is a strong case for the Mayor to intervene on this issue and we want to see a new obesity strategy for the capital. This will ensure action is taken in a co-ordinated way to address the different factors that set children on a path which has such damaging implications for them and society as a whole.”Primary care trusts in the capital spend £13 billion a year on health services, but face increasing demand and a squeeze on their finances. Research commissioned by the Assembly also found adult obesity is currently costing London £883.6 million each year. In 2009, Mr Johnson announced plans to tackle obesity as part of the draft health inequalities strategy. Measures included increasing access to health services and supporting workplace health schemes. Pamela Chesters, the Mayor’s adviser for health and youth opportunities, said: “We share the Assembly’s concerns about childhood obesity… we have introduced initiatives to increase physical activity and encourage healthier eating.The Committee compared the various interventions available for children with obesity and found that the most effective forms of intervention were programmes where children met on site and a combination of physical activity and dietary advice was succesful and cost effective in comparison to lifestyle counselling offered by GP’s, school bus and walking schemes being the least effective. In light of this here are some more useful information and tips!Aim to eat a balanced meal making sure to have food items from the 5 food groups as shown in the Eatwell Plate.

Breakfasts
Don’t skip breakfast. Research shows that breakfast is a very important meal for adults and children alike and helps us all function better throughout the morning. A good breakfast will also help stop the urge to nibble and snack on less healthy items during the morning. Steer clear of sugary cereals they won’t keep your energy levels up for very long.

Fruits and VegetablesFruits and vegetables are the foundation of a healthy diet—they are low in calories and nutrient dense, which means they are packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. Fruits and vegetables should be part of every meal and your first choice for a snack—aim for a minimum of five portions each day. 
Aim to drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day
Water helps flush our systems of waste products and toxins. Yet many people go through life dehydrated—causing tiredness, low energy and headaches. It’s common to mistake thirst for hunger, so staying well hydrated will also help you make healthier food choices.
Take up an active hobby 
Being active is all about having fun, if we don’t enjoy it we won’t keep it up. We all deserve to spend some time on ourselves, doing something we enjoy. Once you get started, it’s easy to keep going. The name of the game is to try to get your heart beating faster, and your lungs working a bit harder for at least 10 minutes at a time. Build up to doing this for a total of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.
Food Labels. 
use the at-a-glance Traffic Light Labelling to cut down on the fat, sugar and salt in your diet. This really is the quickest and easiest way to switch to healthy eating.
Fat, sugar, salt – high or low?High fat is more than 20g per 100gLow fat is 3g or less per 100gHigh sugar is more than 15g per 100gLow sugar is 5g or less per 100gHigh salt is more than 1.5g per 100gLow salt is 0.3g or less per 100g
Most of us consume too much salt in our diets. Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure and lead to other health problems. Try to limit sodium intake to 1,500 to 2,300 mg per day, the equivalent of one teaspoon of salt.Avoid processed or pre-packaged foods. Processed foods like canned soups or frozen dinners contain hidden sodium that quickly surpasses the recommended limit.
Check food labels carefully. Sugar is often disguised using terms such as:- cane sugar or maple syrupcorn sweetener or corn syruphoney or molassesbrown rice syrup- crystallized or evaporated cane juicefruit juice concentrates, such as apple or pearmaltodextrin (or dextrin)Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, Maltose, or Sucrose
SnacksWhen we’re busy, distracted or bored we often look for a snack, and don’t realise how much we’ve eaten.For example eating one packet of crisps a day is the equivalent of “drinking” almost five litres of cooking oil every year British Heart Foundation.
The problem is that our bodies are geared up for storing fat, so eating fatty or sugary snacks is a very quick way of adding to our fat stores, which can lead to weight gain. But you don’t have to lose snacks from your diet altogether. Try cutting down and swapping them for some delicious healthy snacks instead.  
Instead of: Chocolate bars, Sweets, Biscuits, Cakes, Ice creamTry: Healthy ways with fruitCanned – try peach, pear, or pineapple slices in their own juice.Fresh – look out for fruit that’s in season, it can be cheaper.Dried – small handful of cranberries or raisins, or a couple of dried apricots/pears.Try something new with our West African recipe for sunny fruit salad.Smoothie – you can make your own by blending some frozen fruit, lower fat milk/yoghurt and some 100% unsweetened fruit juice. We’ve got a great recipe for banana and strawberry smoothie.Lower fat yoghurt – make sure it doesn’t contain added sugar and add fruit for a delicious snack or pudding.Lower fat rice pudding – check the label for sugar too.Check the label and go for lower fat, lower sugar desserts.
Encourage new foods  If you’ve got a fussy eater in the family, don’t be tempted to buy in junk food because it is all they will accept as inevitably the whole family will end up on a highly processed diet. Instead to get them eating a better variety of quality food.
Getting enough sleepStudies show that people who get the appropriate amount of sleep on a regular basis tend to live longer, healthier lives than those who sleep too few or even too many hours each night. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reports that most adults need seven to eight hours a night. Though, some people may need as few as 5 hours per night and others may need up to nine or ten hours of sleep each day for proper functioning.Healthy Eating MythsMyth number 1: Healthy eating is expensiveWe generally think that healthy food comes with a hefty price tag but this isn’t the case. A recent survey found that there is little difference in the cost of a healthy shopping basket and an unhealthy one. It was found that a typical healthy basket costs an average £71.78 compared with £71.18 for an unhealthy one.There is also research carried out by the National Consumers Council that shows that supermarket economy brands have more salt and fat and less meat content than non economy brands, making them not quite the good deal they appear to be. 
Myth number 2: Healthy eating is time consuming It really isn’t! You could get an omelette on the table in 15 minutes flat or salmon steaks, potatoes and broccoli in 25 minutes max.