Agenda item

Ms Shikha Sharma, the Council's Consultant in Public Health, advised that obesity remained a significant challenge in Hillingdon with around 15k children in Year 6 and 55k adults being obese and having a BMI of 30 or more.  As many children in Reception were already on a trajectory to become obese by Year 6, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) had been working with these children to prevent this from happening.  Obesity had proven to be the second biggest contributor to poor health (smoking was the biggest contributor).  However, the only commissioned weight management programme in the Borough had the capacity to service 200 adults. 

An evidence-based approach was needed which required a sustained effort and local resident buy in (residents needed to identify what it was that they needed to help them live a healthy lifestyle).  A Healthy Hayes workshop had taken place on 28 March 2023 and attended by various stakeholders and community leaders as involvement was needed from different organisations to reduce the cost of obesity on the system.  Action was needed to provide treatment as well as preventative measures and it was anticipated that there would be an estimated £35m reduction in health and social care costs for every four percentage points. 

Action was needed to address the inequalities and environmental pressures and impacts and, to this end, a six-phase whole system approach to obesity had been adopted: set up; building the local picture; mapping the local system; actions; managing the system network; and reflect and refresh.  A logic model would be developed with stakeholders as part of the work during phases 3 and 4.

Hayes had been chosen as a priority area in the Borough as the environment did not support a healthy lifestyle.  It was important that the heathy choice became an easy choice and the facilitation of this change would need support and investment.  Action was also being taken to create five School Superzones and effort was being made to work with the local community to create a healthier environment by reducing the choice of unhealthy and cheap food in the vicinity of schools.

Ms Sharma advised that officers were currently working up a vision of acceptable changes in the Hayes area but they needed stakeholders to buy in and take ownership of the issue. 

Professor Ian Goodman, North West London Integrated Care System (NWL ICS), recognised that this was a challenging issue and suggested that information needed to be passed to parents by health visitors during their antenatal appointments to get them thinking about weight management at an early stage.  Ms Sharma advised that the CNWL 0-19 team had attended the Healthy Hayes workshop and the Family Hub work had also included early years but it would be useful to work with maternity services too. 

Councillor Jane Palmer, Co-Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board, advised that communication continued to be an important factor.  She had attended the Healthy Hayes workshop where a lot of initiatives were talked about which people appeared to be unaware of.  There was still a lot of work that needed to be undertaken to encourage people to choose healthy the option. 

Mr Keith Spencer, Co-Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board and Managing Director of Hillingdon Health and Care Partners (HHCP), advised that clarity was needed on what the key next steps would be, what the drivers were, what would make the biggest impact.  It would be important to be clear about what was being asked for and from whom.  Along with hypertension and anxiety / depression, obesity was one of the three health and wellbeing priorities in the Borough so it had the support of the Health and Wellbeing Board.  However, partners needed to know investment was needed and what the impact of that investment would be.

RESOLVED:  That:

1.    it be noted that:

a)    obesity remained a significant challenge for Hillingdon with around a quarter of Hillingdon’s adults and over a quarter of children in year 6 (25.6%) estimated as having BMI ? 30 (obese).  Food-related ill health, including high BMI, was second only to smoking as a contributor to poor health outcomes in the UK;

b)   England’s Whole Systems Approach (PHE, 2019) recognised that complex issues like obesity required sustained and systemic action and buy in from systems leaders which was essential to support implementation; and

c)    social care and NHS costs related to obesity were estimated at £58bn (3% of GDP); and were going to increase as the adult population with obesity and severe obesity increased and aged.  Effectively preventing and treating obesity would tackle health inequalities and had the potential to significantly improve quality of life and wellbeing, in addition to reducing health and social care costs (estimated at £35m for every 4 percentage points) (Frontier Economics, 2022); and

2.    subject to clarity being provided on the investment needed and the impact of that investment, Health and Wellbeing Board members, Hillingdon’s health and care leaders consider investment into weight management lifestyle services and children’s oral health to reduce food and obesity related inequalities and reduce obesity related health and social care costs.