Government unveils Healthy Towns programme in bid to tackle obesity » Housing » 24dash.com

Nine English towns have been chosen to try out a series of health initiatives designed to head off a looming epidemic of obesity, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today.

Among the schemes being trialled in the £30 million Healthy Towns programme is a loyalty card allowing individuals to earn points by buying healthy food and taking part in exercise which can be redeemed for free sportswear or games equipment.

Other ideas include redesigning town centres to encourage walking and cycling, a grow-your-own fruit and vegetable scheme for social housing tenants, urban gardens in areas hit by last year's floods and a `cycle-recycle` project to help people learn to ride and look after their bikes.

Action will be taken to make parks more attractive places to visit, and safe "active travel corridors" will be created to link people's homes with "health hubs".

The Government-commissioned Foresight report, published last year, warned that unless action is taken, nine out of 10 British adults and two-thirds of children will be overweight or obese by the year 2050.

This would impose an additional £50 billion burden on the NHS and the economy, lead to huge increases in conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes and knock nine years off the average Briton's life expectancy, warned Mr Johnson.

Even now, 9,000 Britons die prematurely each year due to their weight and a third of 10 and 11 year-olds are overweight, he said.

Mr Johnson told BBC1's Politics Show: "Any government seeing that would be irresponsible just to say we are going to just let things roll."

The Healthy Towns initiative, due to be launched today, is part of a wider £372 million project to encourage healthier living, drawing on the example of areas in France and Finland which have achieved significant improvements through innovative schemes.

Tuesday will see the unveiling of the Change4Life "lifestyle revolution" scheme which aims to help parents ensure their families "eat well, move more and live longer".

The Change4Life programme will involve community groups, supermarkets, the media and charities in efforts to help every Briton eat more healthily and be more active.

Among initiatives under the banner will be cut-price promotions on fruit and vegetables at one supermarket and breakfast clubs in deprived areas funded by a national company

Government research has found that 95% of parents agree that obesity is a problem, but only 4% recognise that it is their problem. Only 11.5% of parents with obese and overweight children recognised that their children were obese or overweight.

And only 38% of adults recognise that obesity is a risk factor for heart disease and just 6% are aware of the link to cancer.

Health Department officials believe that many parents may ignore warnings about obesity, but will take action if the danger that their child's weight may lead to serious illness is explained to them.

Mr Johnson defended schemes like Manchester's loyalty card, which could see taxpayers' money spent on buying trainers for people who earn enough points.

"The taxpayer is paying the cost of the NHS and will be paying the extra £50 billion for obesity if we don't tackle these issues," he said.

"Incentives are a very important way to tackle this."

Meanwhile, a project in Dudley, West Midlands, will aim to use planning to make the town's open spaces better places in which to be active.

"It needs everyone - the local authorities, the planning departments, the people who deal with highways, all looking to ensure we build the ability for people to lead healthy lives and be more active into their daily lives," said Mr Johnson.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "This 'healthy towns' initiative has all the hallmarks of the Government's short-sighted approach to tackling public health issues.

"The Government needs to demonstrate how it thinks it will achieve any better results or be any different from the health action zones which Labour spent heavily on in the 1990s, achieved very little, and then disappeared without trace.

"Our approach is to provide resources for the long term with the aim of achieving long-term results."

The areas taking part in Health Secretary Alan Johnson's "healthy towns" programme are Manchester, Calderdale, Thetford, Portsmouth, Tower Hamlets, Dudley, Middlesbrough, Tewkesbury and Sheffield.