Tackling obesity within the Rochdale area

Patients registered with a GP in the Rochdale Borough can access the healthy weight team for support with making changes to food and activity choices.

Based at Birch Hill and consisting of community dietitians, dietetic assistants, and an active lifestyle advisor, they are supporting individuals and families to set realistic goals to achieve and to help to build up the confidence and skills needed to make and maintain healthy lifestyle changes.

For adults they are offering a free eight week programme called Take Off! as well as one to one consultations.

Devised by the team and funded by NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, the ‘Take Off!’ programme is looking to provide a holistic approach to weight management.

In today’s environment, having an active lifestyle and being able to make healthy food choices is not as easy as it used to be.

Take Off! builds on the knowledge people already have and gives them the skills to make informed decisions.

Important skills are understanding labels, the right portion sizes and being aware of how to handle situations that make people eat when they are not hungry for example.

With a growing number of people in the area now classed as at some health risk due to their weight, Linda Convery, lead dietitian for adult obesity, thinks now is the time to tackle the issue. She said: “Recent figures show that more than 50% of the adult population needs help with weight management and this figure is likely to steadily increase given our lifestyles.

"The team wants to raise the awareness of the positive effects of healthy eating and regular physical activity.

“The sessions that we run are not about seeing how much weight individuals have lost week in, week out. They are about giving people the tools they need to manage their weight confidently in their own way.

“What works for one might not work for another, so it’s all about letting people make their own decisions as to how they can make healthier choices, and supporting them with these life long changes.”

Sessions are due to start. There are also plans to set up a network of drop in sessions across the borough for those who can’t commit to the eight week programme, or who have had some support from the team and want to keep in touch.