Cash is 'Fab' boost for health
Thousands of people are to get personal trainers and cut-price gym sessions to help them lose weight.
NHS Leicester City and Sport England are spending £500,000 on fitness schemes in Braunstone, Beaumont Leys, New Parks and Belgrave.
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Alan Parker and Rob Melling
Public health officials say it will help 15,000 people lose weight and get back on the road to better health.
The money will be used to extend the Fit and Active Buddies (Fab) project, a health programme which began in Braunstone five years ago.
Anyone who contacts Fab is given a 12-week weight loss course with a personal trainer and subsidised gym membership.
As well as exercise and activity sessions, people are given help on how to cook and eat better on low budgets.
Rob Melling, Fab team leader, said: "This funding is great news.
"It means we can plan for the future and find new ways of supporting people to change their eating habits and to get active.
"We measure success by how people change their lifestyles between the start and end of joining. It is also measured by weight loss. Since Christmas, 15 people in one of the groups have lost a total of seven stone."
In the past five years, 1,600 people have been helped.
Alan Parker, from New Parks, joined Fab nine weeks ago.
His weight has dropped from 24 stone to just over 22 stone and is a regular in the gym.
His new regime is proving such a success his wife has decided to join up, too.
Mr Parker, 43, who also has type two diabetes, admits he has never looked after himself.
The father of six said: "I was obese, never looked after myself and I had never been in a gym.
"I was on the verge of going to the doctor to get a certificate to say I couldn't wear a seatbelt, then I discovered Fab on the internet."
The programme has turned his lifestyle upside down.
He said: "I exercise six times a week, have lost nearly two stone and am planning to do karate.
"A lot of my weight was down to drinking too much alcohol and having food portions that were just too large. That has all changed."
Mr Parker, whose wife Sally-Ann, 36, has also joined the scheme, said: "I never would have believed how quickly I could start to change my life."
NHS Leicester City said efforts were being focused on preventing serious health problems caused by obesity.
It is already working with schools to encourage children to eat more healthily, setting up slimming clubs and getting GPs to refer patients to gyms.
Fab is based at Caldecott Primary School, in Braunstone.
Call 077 853 85911 for further information.
5 Comments
by janet, nott
Wednesday, April 01 2009, 2:06PM
“i agree with ray some people need the help to get started its not easy making that 1st step when you are a rut in with your life, if its a great success the council may look into making more facilities available in time
these facilities in the long run will cost less in health care”
by ray walker, nottingham
Tuesday, March 31 2009, 2:51PM
“I disagree with the previous posts. The fact that someone is willing to join the Gym and gets help is not an easy thing to do. These people have been looking for help for many years and do not and cannot afford the luxuries that other people are blessed to have. This programme is educating people and giving them the chance to realise that there is more to life than just eating.
It is people like Mr parker that will inspire others to go out and join this programme. Some of these people have had health problems and worked all there life they are just like any other person but have lost their purpose in life. I myself am classed as a skinny person, pay my taxes and yes even pay to go to the gym, but i do not begrudge any person the right to make positive changes to their lifestyle. Lets not make going to the Gym purely for the 'elite' few who can afford it. Sport England have made a fantastic contribution to ensuring Human beings (which we all are) get the opportunity to realise their own potential.
I take my hat off to Mr parker. Yes he is willing to take advantage of this free offer whilst others pay and again he may well have contributed to his own health problems but people need to realise that if it ever came to a point where he would need hospital treatment the actual cost would far outweigh the cost of completing this programme.
Money well spent i say!”
by sandra, cardiff
Tuesday, March 31 2009, 8:32AM
“There is a simple forula for the answer to being over weight - eat less and move more. You do not need gym membership to lose weight.”
by LM, Aylestone
Monday, March 30 2009, 2:05PM
“I am all for encouraging people to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle, but spending £500k on advice, discounted gym membership and personal trainers is surely a step too far. If people like Mr Parker are now drinking and eating less, surely this would offset the cost of gym membership anyway?? This scheme will cause further crowding at the councils already over crowded gyms, and therefore be of detriment to the other, full price paying members. The message this gives out is that if you lead an unhealthy, sedantry lifestyle, and as a result of this become obese, you will be rewarded with help and reduced membership rates, whereas if you're careful what you eat and keep yourself fit, you will have to pay full price to attend an even more crowded gym. What overweight people need to lose weight is CV excercise, i.e walking or jogging, which can be done in any park, or on any street for free. Wouldn't this money be better spent providing football pitches for kids and encouraging overweight kids to exercise, who often have less choice in what they eat and less opportunity for exercise.
I'm not criticising overweight people at all, all power to anyone trying to lose weight and get fit, I'm just not sure if whether making it easier for people makes them more or less likely to succeed.”
by ianr, melton mowbray
Monday, March 30 2009, 9:22AM
“For crying out loud. What an obscene amount of money to spend on people who cannot be bothered to do this sort of thing on their own initiative.
Someone else has to pick up the bill, I pay for these things myself, it doesn't take much thinking to do so but no let others pay for it.
You don't need gym membership to get and keep fit and even the one has type 2 diabetes has admitted he has bothered before but has now decided to do something because he doesn't have to pay for it.
Why should I have to pay for someone who has admitted he drunk and ate too much.”