HEALTH boards in Wales will receive almost £3 million to help combat obesity.

Deputy minister for mental health and wellbeing Lynne Neagle has announced £2.9 million in funding will be made available for health boards to focus on early intervention and specialist support.

Ahead of launching the ‘All Wales Weight Management Pathway’, the Torfaen MS attended a virtual meeting with Dr Sarah Aitken, director of public health and strategic partnerships from Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.

READ MORE:

Dr Aitken explained how the funding would be used to improve weight management services within the health board area, and how these plans fit with wider prevention schemes, such as the Blaenau Gwent Sustainable Food Communities Programme, which aims to address food poverty, promote healthy eating and end food waste within the county.

The UK has one of the highest levels of obesity in Western Europe, and in Wales, 27 per cent of four to five year olds in reception class and sixty per cent of adults are overweight. And the latest Public Health Wales ‘How are we doing’ report shows that 43 per cent of people believe that their weight has increased in the last year.

Being overweight increases the risk of developing major health conditions such as coronary heart disease, type two diabetes and some cancers, and can also be a risk to people’s mental health leading to low self-esteem, depression and anxiety.

Ms Neagle said: “We have updated the guidelines following a review conducted by Public Health Wales, the new advice brings greater clarity for service providers and has been created by working with Public Health Wales and clinicians.

“The new pathway understands that there can be numerous and complex reasons to why a person may need support with their weight management, with a strong focus on how mental health can affect people’s physical health.

“The last year has put a huge focus on our health and wellbeing, the new pathway will provide compassionate support in helping people on their weight management journey and will run alongside our Healthy Weight: Healthy Wales strategy to encourage people to make healthier choices and lead more active lives.”