Unmet needs
Weight management services
North Tyneside Council offer a children’s Tier 2 weight-management service (children with a BMI ≥91st centile), and an adult Tier 2 weight-management service (adults with a BMI usually ≥25). In addition, Tier 3 specialist weightmanagement services (adults with a BMI usually ≥35) are also available, which are funded by the ICB and provided by Northumbria Healthcare Trust.
On the basis that 70.7% of the North Tyneside adult population are classified as overweight or obese, this equates to approximately 118,300 adults who are potentially eligible for a weight-management service.
On the basis that 25.9% of Reception pupils and 38.1% of Year 6 pupils in North Tyneside are classified as overweight or obese, this equates to approximately 1,200 Reception children, and 1,800 Year 6 children who are eligible for the Tier 2 children’s weight-management service.
- Current capacity for children’s Tier 2 services: approximately 120 spaces (annually)
- Current capacity for adult Tier 2 services: approximately 400 spaces (annually)
- Current capacity for adult Tier 3 services: approximately 570 spaces (annually)
- Total capacity 1,090 (annually)
In both settings the level of need greatly exceeds capacity, resulting in large unmet need.
Physical Inactivity
In addition to a higher BMI, higher levels of physical inactivity are also correlated to deprivation. Meaning that as the level of deprivation increases, the level of physical activity decreases - this is shown in Figure 4.
The data show that 30.4% of adults in North Tyneside are physically inactive (engaging in less than 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week). A further 6.5% are only fairly active (engaging in 30-149 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week). Equating to 36.9% of the North Tyneside adult population not meeting the Chief Medical Officer guidelines for physical activity of a minimum of 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate physical activity per week, or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity per week, or an equivalent combination of the two.
