Kids in Calderdale are being offered free classes as part of the Upbeat Kids scheme. Youngsters between seven and 17 years of age, who are overweight, are being encouraged to attend the classes with their parents for 10 weeks. The course includes activities, exercise, sports and games as well as healthy food advice.

The scheme is organised by NHS Calderdale and Calderdale council in a bid to help families lose weight by taking more exercise and eating healthier foods. Amanda Spencer attended the course with her daughter Jaime Lee for 10 weeks. At the end of the free course, Amanda had lost (more…)

The Child Support Agency in the UK was originally set up with a view to ensuring that children from broken families receive regular maintenance payments from the non-resident parent in order to live. However, it quickly became apparent that the task was too great for any single organisation to handle, and with the CSA reportedly costing 70p for every £1 recovered, it has proved something of a colossal failure. The failure of the CSA has reached such a level that the new coalition government announced last year that it would be closed down, and its staff and responsibilities merged with the DWP.

Despite this however the CSA will still exist in some form, and it will still be chasing parents for money, mishandling cases and, in many cases, causing parents to end their own lives at the thought of not being able to support (more…)

A couple from Jarrow, South Tyneside have joined other couples from around the United Kingdom in a bid to lose weight on national television. The Biggest Loser takes place at Stanford House in Leicestershire, where seven couples compete against each other to lose weight for a prize of £25,000. Contestants Mark and Karen Layton have pledged to lose weight for the sake of their own health and for their kids. Mark Layton, who weighed in at 31st 6lbs, realises that if he doesn’t lose weight he is at real risk of dying before his ten year old children grow up.

The Biggest Loser series started on Monday 10th January, with (more…)

A report on BBC 1’s ‘The One Show’ last night revealed how children in the North West were spoiled over Christmas to such an extent that their parents were going into debt to pay for it all. One woman from Ellesmere Port admitted to still be in debt for a portion of the £1,500 she spent on Christmas last year, and that she was determined not to go into debt for Christmas 2025. By saving money in advance and sticking to a budget she managed to avoid placing any money on her credit cards, and thus avoided (more…)

A 16 year old girl has had gastric bypass surgery carried out at a hospital in Sheffield. Jen Hogarth, from North Tyneside, weighed 23 stone as she was admitted for surgery, and had begun to develop diabetes, which is common in children who are overweight. The North East don’t offer gastric bypass operations to children under 18, although a group of doctors based at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary want to set up a children’s weight loss unit which would be able to offer gastric surgery. This wasn’t supported by the Primary Care Trust who believe that money spent on prevention would be a better option.

Jen gained the weight as a result of being bullied (more…)

The West Midlands has the highest rate of obesity and teenage pregnancies in Europe, according to health studies of 27 countries in Europe. As the National Health Service is predicted to cost £6billion by 2015 this is a worrying statistic, and even more worrying for the citizens of the West Midlands. As business in the takeaways and fast food outlets continues to increase, concern (more…)

A new television show called ‘Village on a diet’ is to be aired this week, in a bid to help the residents of Taylor, a British Columbia town, to lose weight. The rates of obesity, including child obesity in Canada have risen alarmingly in the last quarter of a century. Six professionals in health and nutrition are going to combine their expertise in order to help the residents of this Canadian town to live healthily and lose one tonne of weight collectively in three months.

Over 60 percent of the residents in Taylor are either classed as (more…)

Free books of vouchers worth £50 each will be handed out to families in England as part of a health initiative by the government. Change4Life, the government’s health initiative has been launched to help families improve their fitness levels and make healthy changes to their diet. As obesity levels, including child obesity have risen the government are trying to encourage families to live a healthier lifestyle.

£250 million worth of free vouchers will be handed out, with (more…)