It is caused by consuming high calories foods mainly fatty and sugary foods, because of this you end up consuming more calories than you can burn off, this leads the excess energy to be stored by the body as fat eventually leading to obesity. 

 

One method used to classify a persons health in relation to their weight is by BMI which stands for body mass index 

 

18.5 -24.9 healthy weight 

25 – 29.9 overweight 

Obesity carries many different risk factors 

1.     Diabetes 

2.     High blood pressure 

3.     High Cholesterol 

4.     Some cancers ( Breast and bowel) 

5.     Stroke 

 

We chose to focus on Croydon borough and obesity as there are 33,280 people registered with gps in Croydon and of that number 10.6% of those people are suffering with obesity.    

Develop an interactive pathway for residents and health professionals which details support for children to reach a healthy weight and provides advice on healthy behaviour change.

 

2. Local Government Declaration

Croydon Council signs up to the Local Government Declaration. Improved availability of healthier food and reduced availability and promotion of unhealthier alternatives

 

3. Sugar Smart Croydon

Croydon becomes a  Sugar Smart borough. Residents are more aware of the issues around excess sugar consumption.Businesses promote healthier, lower sugar alternatives.

 

4. Targeting of Services and school health profiles

Develop an electronic resource that provides intelligence on schools and wards so that we can target resources more effectively. This will link with the interactive pathway.

 

5. A Targeted Communications Plan

More residents understand what a healthy weight is and we begin to normalise a healthy weight. Run surveys and focus groups to explore and understand the values and attitude.

2.    Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes reduces your body's ability to control blood sugar. It is a major cause of early death, heart disease, stroke, and blindness. Overweight people are twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to normal weight people. 

3.    Cancer
Several types of cancer are associated with being overweight. In women, these include cancer of the uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovary, breast, and colon. Overweight men are at higher risk for developing colorectal cancer and prostate cancer. 

4.    Gallbladder Disease
Gallbladder disease and gallstones are more common if you are overweight. Your risk of disease increases as your weight increases. 

5.    Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a common joint condition that most often affects the knee, hip, and lower back joints. Carrying extra pounds places extra pressure on these joints and wear away the cartilage that normally protects them.

6.    Gout
Gout is a disease that affects the joints that is caused by high levels of a substance called uric acid in the blood. The large amount of uric acid can form into solid or crystal-like masses that deposit in the joints. 

7.    Sleep Apnoea?
Sleep apnoea is a serious breathing condition that is associated with being overweight. Sleep apnoea can cause a person to snore heavily and to stop breathing for short periods during sleep. Sleep apnoea may cause daytime sleepiness and even heart failure.

Physiological: Body weight is determined by the interaction of the genetic makeup of an individual and the environment in which that person is living. The control systems that regulate body weight are numerous and include signals from fat that travel to the hypothalamus where cognitive and internal signals are integrated. The integration of these signals involves a complex array of neuropeptides, neurotransmitters and structural circuits. These circuits regulate appetite, intake and energy expenditure.

Metabolic: Metabolic syndrome is closely linked to overweight or obesity and inactivity. It's also linked to a condition called insulin resistance. Normally, your digestive system breaks down the foods you eat into sugar. Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that helps sugar enter your cells to be used as fuel. In people with insulin resistance, cells don't respond normally to insulin and glucose can't enter the cells as easily. As a result, your blood sugar levels rise even as your body churns out more and more insulin to try to lower your blood sugar.

Hormonal: Some hormones like leptin and insulin influence our appetite and metabolism. Hypothyroidism is associated with decreased thermogenesis, decreased metabolic rate and correlation of higher body mass index (BMI)Excesses or deficits of hormones can lead to obesity.

Sociocultural & Environmental: Sociocultural and environmental factors as lifestyle, food habits, religion, workload etc

Behavioural: Along with sociocultural and environmental, behavioural is a associated cause of obesity like dietary intake, physical activity

Psychological: A variety of psychological disorders like depression, anxiety, stress, sadness can not only foreshadow the development of obesity but also develop difficulties to control weight.

The achievements from this project are that schools have benefitted from the healthy eating skills offered by Croydon’s three current Food Flagship Schools.

Infant school meal uptake has increased from 81% to 85.2% and Key Stage 2 meal uptake has increased from 53% to 64.5% across Croydon schools

57 schools have increased their food-growing activities with pupils.

A new Croydon School Food Plan, and staff training in food preparation, has led to healthier menus at breakfast and after-school clubs and lunchtimes, and more kids eating school meals.

More than 300 residents attended cooking and nutrition or horticultural courses at the Community Food Learning Centre in New Addington.

Three Edible Playgrounds were built across four schools encouraging pupils to grow their own fruit and vegetables and consume the fresh produce.

A new pop-up healthy food zone in partnership with local entrepreneurs opened outside Croydon College.

Residents who received training as ‘Master Gardeners’ and ‘Food Buddies’ clocked up in excess of 1,000 hours of conversations with the public about food growing and nutrition.

 

This provides information and statistics that the projects are effective in tackling obesity and understanding the risks of obesity and how to live healthier lives within Croydon.