Healthy Weight

Healthy lifestyles have been highlighted as a priority in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. 

Collectively it is estimated that ‘lifestyle factors’ are responsible for 25% of overall health outcomes. Key lifestyle factors include things like diet and physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use.

From the Health and Wellbeing Board’s perspective, the focus needs to be on where programmes require transformative co-ordinated action across a broad range of stakeholders to have impact at a population level. For this priority, initially the Health and
Wellbeing Board will focus on healthy weight.

Obesity reduces life expectancy by an average of three years, while severe obesity reduces it by eight years. People living with obesity are at increased risk of a range of health issues, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, mental ill-health and musculoskeletal problems. Obesity is a health inequalities issue with children living in the most deprived parts of the county being twice as likely to be affected as those living in the least deprived areas.