The Urban Health Profile: Childhood Obesity in the City of Westminster - Essay Example

?The Urban Health Profile: Childhood Obesity in the of Westminster Introduction Obesity is a complex life-threatening urban health problem that is primarily biological in nature, exacerbated by an obesogenic environment which essentially characterizes cities. Fortunately though, obesity can be prevented at the early stage of human life. Furthermore, children are more responsive to treatment than adults (Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness and Committee on School Health [CSM and FCSH] 2006, p.1826). As such, preventing childhood obesity becomes crucial. This will not only help develop healthy children but will also help prevent adult obesity, thus saving lives and billions of money. One area significant for this study is the City of Westminster because it has the highest childhood obesity prevalence in London among Year 6 pupils (28%) in London (London Assembly 2011) and in England among Reception pupils (15%) of state schools (National Health Service-Westminster [NHSW] 2009), especially so that the City substantially contributes to maintaining London’s World Class City status (Local socio-economic/demographic context 2004). 2 The City of Westminster 2.1 Area Westminster is among London’s 33 boroughs, with 20 wards occupying the 2,204 hectares (8.51 square miles) central part of the UK’s capital city. Here reside the Crown, the Government and foreign embassies, the centres of business and education, and some of the country’s historical heritage. Thus it is among the most esteemed business locations and most sought tourist destinations of the world. (Westminster Public Care Trust [WPCT] 2004) 2.2 Population An ethnically and culturally diverse, highly mobile, and growing resident and transient population inhabits Westminster. It is London’s borough with the highest internal (UK) and international migrant turnover rate at 241 per 4,000 in 2008/2009. Westminster’s population surges during the day with its one-million visitors and commuters every day. These make counting Westminster’s population particularly difficult. But its resident population, which accounts to 253,100 populations in 2010 with a 6% projected growth by 2013, made Westminster fifth of London’s largest inner borough. Westminster is London’s most densely populated borough with 84.41 persons per hectare as against London’s 45.62 persons per hectare. (Findlay et al. 2012) Westminster’s population is highly concentrated in its most deprived wards in the north and south (Henschen and Searle 2011). Westminster has a higher working age group population (24-49 years old) at 50.6% as against London’s 43.0%, slightly lower elderly group population (60 and above) at 12.9% as against London’s 13.8%, and much lower children group population (13.1%) as against London’s 19.6% (Findlay et al. 2012). Earlier data (GLA 2004, cited in WPCT 2004, p.5) show Westminster’s children and young people population distributed as follows: 20% are in Queen’s Park & Paddington (Queens Park, Harrow Road, Westbourne, Bayswater, Lancaster Gate, and Hyde Park); 11% in Soho & West End (Bryanstor & Dorset Square, Maryleborne High Street, and West End); 20% in St. Johns Wood & Marylebone (Abbey Road, Maida Vale, Little Venice, Church Street, and Regent’s Park); and 17% in Victoria & Pimlico (Knightsbridge & Belgravia, St. James, Vincent Square, Warwick, Tachbrook, and Churchill). Westminster is ethnically composed of White British (72%), Black Caribbean (2%), Black African (3%), Black Other (2%), Indian (4%), Pakistani (1%), Bangladeshi (2%), Chinese (3%), Other Asian (3%), and Other (8%) that are distributed variedly among its wards (GLA 2010, cited in Henschen and Searle 2011, p.15). Its children and young age group population is ethnically composed of White British (45%), White Other (14%), Asian (14%), Black (9%), Mixed (11%); and Other (6%) (ONS 2007, cited in Henschen and Searle 2011, p.14). 2.3 Socio-economic Status Westminster appears wealthy being the UK’s third most prosperous boroughs in terms of average resident income, not to say that some of the wealthiest Britons live here. However, within the City is the reality of poverty, specifically in its north and south areas. (Trust for London and New Policy Institute 2011) In fact, it was ranked the 75th most deprived council of the UK’s 354 local authorities in 2010, with poverty, housing and homelessness, employability, and poor mental health its four major problems. It also ranked fifth among the UK’s borough with the highest severe child poverty (24% = 9,000 children). Notably too, migrant communities which are highly concentrated in Church Street and Regent’s Park (WPCT 2004) – among the borough’s most deprived areas (NHSW 2009) – are among its low-income groups, especially Black-Africans and Bangladeshi. (Findlay et al. 2012) 2.4 Physical Environment Westminster has 87 public access open spaces (NHSW 2009), but it is within the 20% UK areas considered worst for outdoor living environment, road traffic accidents, and among Europe’s worst performers in air quality test (Sustrans 2013). It has a well-developed transport structure making mobility for people highly convenient as they go to work, schools, malls and shopping centres, supermarkets, cinemas, food establishments, banks, offices, hospitals and clinics, and more. Sports facility provision in Westminster is poor compared to that of London and England, except for swimming pools and health and fitness centers. However, though it has 66 different sites offering health and fitness facilities, only 7 are accessible to the public. (NHSW 2009) 2.5 Food Environment Fastfood chains offering cheap but less nutritious foods, 24-hour convenient stores selling ready to eat or easy to cook junk foods, and restaurants that encourage leisure eating are common in Westminster. The constant availability of food drastically people’s attitude to food. People prefer cheaper easy-to-cook foods, lessening hours of food preparation, increasing portion sizes, and making diets less nutritious and more harmful to health. (NHSW 2009) 3 Analysis Westminster’s high prevalent childhood obesity is unsurprising due to socio-economic and cultural factors that the City’s urban planning, policies and programs fail to address. The City’s urban make-up conditions a lifestyle that develops childhood obesity. Its well-developed and highly accessible transport system unintentionally lessened active physical activity of children (e.g. walking, cycling, running). According to studies (CSMF and CSH 2006; Brown 2010; Karnik and Kanekar 2012), active physical activity prevents obesity. The children and young people’s tendency to have less active physical activity is further conditioned by the City’s polluted and populated outside environment, and unsafe roads. Thus thinking for their children’s health and safety parents prefer them to either ride in a bus or car or just stay at home and virtually play or watch TV. The presence of 24-hour fast food chains and convenient stores developed an eating habit that made children crave for more junk foods anytime of the day. Poor eating habit including eating too many high-calorie snacks, like ‘chips, chocolate bars, soft drinks, fruit drinks, sugars, syrup, preserves, fats, and oils’ highly contribute to childhood obesity (Roblin 2007, p.635). Worse, these foods are aggressively advertised which children see constantly almost everywhere. Aside from family and friends, advertising is among the most influential factors to children’s eating habits (Fiavola 2010). Though schools are making effort to make children shift to healthy eating habits, the advertising environment surrounding them is much stronger. Children are the most vulnerable group for marketing and advertising because they are more receptive (Fialova 2010). The policies and programs of the City obviously failed to address the incidence of poverty among its boroughs. Socio-economic factors are among the most important contributors to childhood obesity. Various studies (Fialova 2010; Ogden et al. 2010; Gibbs and Forste 2013) have consistently illustrated that children from low socio-economic households are more susceptible to obesity. The City also failed to consider the impact of its multi-ethnicity and multi-cultural population on the prevalence of childhood obesity. Evidences suggest that ethnicity and culture may increase risks of childhood obesity development as early as gestation, then during infancy and childhood, due to food-related beliefs, choices, and practices (Kumanyika 2007; Caprio et al. 2008; Pena, Dixon, and Taveras 2012) 4 Conclusion and Recommendation Therefore, Westminster’s high prevalent childhood obesity problem is caused by a confluence of its physical environment, socio-economic status, and ethnically and culturally diverse population. 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