Youth health fears being weighed up
NEW ways must be found to get youngsters active to avoid the Portsmouth and Hamp-shire area becoming the obesity capital of the south, according to local election candidates.
Shocking figures have shown one in four children in Portsmouth are obese by the time they leave primary school and in Fareham, Gosport and Havant the number of obese adults is above the national average of 21.8 per cent.
Terry Judkins, Conservative candidate for St Jude, said we should be capitalising on open spaces and existing sports centres to encourage people to get active.
'Schools are selling off playing fields and some of the leisure facilities are being closed simply because they are being mismanaged', he said.
'We have got to keep facilities, like The Pyramids Centre, in the city to encourage children to get active and use them.
'We have got a big common in Southsea – we should be using it by setting up football schemes and improving the skatepark.'
Lib Dem Craig Lewis, standing for Stubbington, Fareham, said: 'We need to encourage people to lead healthy lifestyles and do exercise.
'The only way we're going to do this is by looking to improve on the existing sports facilities and introduce more.'
But some candidates say ploughing money into facilities is not the answer.
Cheryl Buggy, Lib Dem candidate for Eastney and Craneswater, Portsmouth said: 'Although well-run and affordable facilities are good, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to exercise. Walking or cycling along the seafront needn't cost very much at all.
'But children need to want to exercise – it is no good having facilities if you can't get people through the door.'
Councillors say the key to improving public health across the area is to educate youngsters about the benefits of healthy eating and exercise from a young age.
Labour candidate Angela Carr, standing for Fareham North West, said: 'Diet and exercise are important to maintaining good health.
'We cannot tell people how to live their lives but we can educate children, give advice to adults and encourage a healthy lifestyle. As well as councillors doing their part to encourage this, schools need to be given support and encouragement to teach pupils about the importance of diet and exercise.'
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Portsmouth Labour candidate Andy Silvester:
'I don't think people think about public health and the bigger picture.
'If they are OK on a day-to-day basis, they don't think about maintaining a long-term healthy city and what that involves, for example greener public transport to improve air quality will help the health of the city overall.
'We need to use the city council's resources to work with the NHS and bring about a more holistic approach to health care.
We need to put the patient at the top of the list and make sure they get the health care they need.'
Conservative Terry Judkins:
'Improving public health is about education.
'We need to start from a young age and educate about the importance of physical exercise and diet.
'And we need to continue to educate adults about the long term damage of smoking and really get that message across.
'Schemes like the non-smoking bus are great and need to be spread out across the rest of the city.'
Lib Dem Cheryl Buggy:
'In certain parts of the city life expectancy is so much lower than others – by as much as a decade.
'It is quite shocking. We need to be supporting people to make better lifestyle choices in order to stop this.
'I think there is a lot to be said for the power of positive peer pressure – rather than just tell people about the changes. It is about getting people involved and they can pass the messages on to other people in the community.
'But we need to make sure the support is available – it is no good getting people to go to a dentist if there are none available.'
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Weather for Portsmouth
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
