Schemes to tackle obesity
TACKLING obesity is to be made a top priority for the Newmarket and Mildenhall areas after new figures showed the problem is worse than the national average.
Forest Heath District Council's health working group heard that more than one in five people in the district are obese.
The report also shows women die younger than the average and there is a high incidence of cancer deaths.
Now councillors and council officials are set to work on a number of schemes to help reduce obesity.
One idea could work on similar lines to the existing "exercise on referral" scheme to help people recover from illness or operations. A new scheme could help people lose weight and keep mobile.
The figures came from the Public Health Observatories for Local Authorities which produces council health profiles.
Obesity in the UK