Obesity

North Tyneside has a range of the community assets and services that could contribute to reducing levels of overweight and obesity.

Active North Tyneside

There are a range of initiatives on offer for adults and children to support physical activity and healthy weight within North Tyneside. The Active North Tyneside (ANT) team are responsible for this portfolio. The primary purpose of ANT is to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and reduce health inequalities across the borough. ANT aims to tackle health inequalities by specifically encouraging uptake in the 0-20% most deprived areas in the borough and by directly targeting vulnerable groups, for example, young men and women who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), Looked After Children and Troubled families.

Pregnancy and Early Years settings

In North Tyneside there are interventions during the 1001 critical days and beyond. These interventions take a preventative approach to obesity before children transition into school. Initiatives currently underway within North Tyneside include:

• Development of an infant feeding strategy (evidence demonstrates that breastfeeding significantly decreases the risk of obesity in children). North Tyneside’s 0-19 service holds the UNICEF gold award for infant feeding.
• Increasing the uptake of Healthy Start Vouchers which is a significant part of the Healthy Child programme.

North Tyneside Healthy Schools award

The Healthy Schools award is to recognise schools’ achievements in supporting the health and wellbeing of their pupils. As part of the award schools must ensure that their curriculum includes opportunities for pupils to learn about different types of food in the context of a healthy and a balanced diet (using the Eatwell guide).

Parks, open spaces & leisure facilities

North Tyneside has a wealth of parks and open spaces which residents can utilise for recreational purposes such as physical activity. In addition, there are several beaches and coastal promenade areas residents can readily access. Council sport and leisure facilities include five leisure centres (four of which have swimming facilities) also an outdoor foot and mini golf course. In addition, North Tyneside also has a large amount of cycling infrastructure in place.

Voluntary and community sector

North Tyneside Council have an excellent relationship with the voluntary and community sector (VCS) via VODA. VODA is a registered charity that provides support, advice, training and information to volunteers and VCS organisations operating in North Tyneside. The council work closely with VODA to ensure that funding opportunities are communicated with the sector to support initiates around healthy weight (alongside other key priority areas).

The Living Well North Tyneside platform (launched in summer 2021) brings together a range of organisations consisting of the local authority, VCS and healthcare. The aim is to connect communities with trusted information, helping local residents find and access services, activities, and events (including those in relation to weight-management) to support them to live well locally.

Workplace settings

Many organisations within North Tyneside already promote healthy lifestyles and consider the health of their employees. The Better Health at Work Award recognises the efforts of employers in addressing health issues within the workplace and helps them capture their achievements in a structured and supported way. The scheme is open to all employers in the North East, regardless of size, location or type of business. North Tyneside Council hold the highest level of attainment for the award, Ambassador status.

North Tyneside Local Plan

As part of the North Tyneside local plan which was adopted in 2017, the council introduced legislation to ban the opening of new hot food takeaways within the borough in the interests of public health. Since the local plan was adopted there have been no new hot food takeaway licences granted. Planning functions within local government are an important lever to shape the natural and built environment, which can contribute to positive health outcomes through green spaces, housing, transport, and town centres. Improving health and wellbeing is a requirement of the National Planning Policy Framework.