FIGHTING OBESITY: East Lancs health chief wants no charge at leisure centres

Coun Azhar Ali, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, was speaking as the national body announced a range of measure designed to prevent ill-health, including employers offering workers cash or shopping vouchers if they lose weight.

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Coun Ali, who also represents Nelson South, said it was more important to focus on making keeping fit something every-body could do, rather than only targeting people who were already overweight.

He said: “I am not in favour of people being offered shopping vouchers.

“Some people are overweight for health reasons and not just because of what they eat.

“What I am in favour of is putting money into encouraging people who cannot afford it to join a gym or take other forms of exercise.

“I also think leisure centres should be free.

“We do not just have overweight adults, we also need to tackle issues of young people who cannot access sports resources because they cannot afford it.”

The announcement from NHS England’s chief executive Simon Stevens was part of a package of plans to relieve pressure on staff and slash £22 billion from annual costs.

Coun Ali, who lives in Brierfield, said teaching youngsters what they should be eating could help reduce the obesity problem in the long term.

One in five children in East Lancashire is now classed as obese.

And Coun Ali said: “Youngsters should be taught hot to cook on a budget, rather than them being given shopping vouchers.

“What we really should be doing is making access to leisure centres free and incentivising people to get others involved.”

Ron O’Keeffe, chair of the Blackburn with Darwen health scrutiny committee, said he thought the measure sounded like a ‘gimmick’.

He said: “The big message that has got to come out is that people are responsible for their own bodies and they must look after them.

“They cannot expect the NHS to take care of them. It is just not on.”