Health bosses get £2.5m to fight obesity

HEALTH bosses in Lothian were today handed £2.5 million to help tackle childhood obesity over the next three years.

The cash is part of £19m worth of funding for health boards across the country to implement the Scottish Government's Healthy Eating, Active Living Action Plan to improve diet and increase physical activity.

The announcement was made by Public Health Minister Shona Robison and the issue was set to come under the spotlight in parliament today.

But The British Medical Association outlined its own five-point plan to combat the problem.

"Childhood obesity rates in Scotland are worryingly high," said Dr Dean Marshall, chair of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee. "The Government's action plan provides little detail on real actions that will reverse this trend. It is time for tough action."

In Scotland in 2006/07, one in five primary one schoolchildren were classed as overweight, according to the BMA, including 8.5 per cent who were classed as obese and 4.3 per cent classed as severely obese.