IT’S 11.40am on chilly Wednesday morning and a queue has started to snake through Captain Cook Square in the heart of Middlesbrough.
Given the number of prams and pushchairs in the line, it looks at first glance as though a nursery might be about to open its doors to its first intake of the day.
Only it isn’t a childcare setting – but an all-you-can-eat buffet which has eager families waiting patiently on a chilly morning for its 11.45am opening.
It isn’t even lunchtime yet, but the allure is obvious when you see the price list; adults can take in as much cuisine from around the world as they can physically eat for just £10.95
And better still, children also have access to its crispy beef, tandoori drumsticks, lasagne and even the chocolate fountain for £2.95 – so long as they’re under one metre tall.
It’s a belly-busting bargain that has tempted dozens from their homes before noon and sees them leaving with satisfied grins.
However, here, in Middlesbrough, North Yorks, the daily diet of the town’s residents is coming under increasing scrutiny.
There is growing concern about an obesity epidemic which threatens the health of many, but particularly its most vulnerable and impressionable – kids under the age of six.
New figures from the Government‘s National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) have sounded an alarm for Middlesbrough’s parents.
The programme , part of the Government’s approach to tackling child obesity by annually measuring the height and weight of children, has placed the town at the top of the table for overweight and obese reception-age children.
The survey found 30 per cent of children under the age of five and six were either overweight or obese.
And those suffering obesity – including severe and morbid obesity – came in at 14.1 per cent, also the joint worst in England, a distinction shared with the town’s near neighbour, Hartlepool.
The figures will not have come as a shock to anyone in the town.
Earlier this year Middlesbrough council decided it needed to intervene by signing a Healthy Weight Declaration aimed at promoting a less dangerous diet to those who rely too heavily on high fat convenience foods.
At the time the council’s own figures made stark reading.
An estimated 71 per cent of over-18s are overweight or living with obesity, with 28 per cent of mothers living with obesity in early pregnancy.
And alongside the 30 per cent of reception children who are overweight and living with obesity, by Year 6 – those aged 11 – 42.4 per cent are overweight and living with obesity.
We asked mums why they felt the town had lurched into an impending health crisis for overweight tots.
Pals Jodie Mundy, 40, Jayne Ashcroft, 42, and Carly Griffiths, 43, were among those queuing outside World Buffet as it opened its doors.
With Jodie was her one-year-old daughter Sapphire, and Jayne had daughter Hollie in her pushchair.
Mum-of-seven Jodie said: “I don’t usually bring the older kids here but the little ones can come in for £2.95 if they’re under a metre tall. It’s really nice food and it’s obviously cheap so it’s popular.
“There is always a queue waiting outside for it to open, I think it’s because there is such a wide range of food on offer and the desserts are lovely.
“At home I batch cook and I make everything from scratch. It’s the best way to feed a big family and I use as much fruit and veg as I can.
“But it doesn’t really surprise me to hear Middlesbrough has a problem with obesity in children.
“Sometimes it is easier and cheaper just to go out for a McDonald’s, especially if money is tight, as it is for a lot of people.”
Jayne, a mother of five, nods approvingly at Jodie’s dedication to scratch cooking, but admits: “I’m not like that.”
She adds: “We just eat when we want, when we are hungry and it’s nice to come to places like this when you feel like a treat.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been but you always leave full and the kids like it when they come. There is such a wide choice of food – Chinese, Indian, Italian and lovely sweets.
“You can’t blame people for taking advantage of a good price when food in general is so expensive now.”
Mother of four Jess Boden, 31, is all too aware of the misery that obesity can bring.
Her eldest son, aged 13, has been classified as obese, a situation which has led to him becoming the victim of bullying and has led to a degree of isolation.
Jess said: “I think in his case the problem is that he’s had too little exercise and for that I blame video games.
“Kids don’t go out and play any more like they used to – why would they when everything they need is right there in front of them on a screen.
“My kids don’t eat badly, you can get microwave meals now which are much healthier than they used to, but my son is ten stone and all the health professionals who have seen him have raised concern about his weight.
“We’ve tried to keep an eye on his diet and encourage him to take up sports like boxing. I hope that by pushing him towards being more active it can make a difference.”
Jess is out in the town centre with her mum Tracey Bide, gran Irene Bide, 77, and her youngest children Yazmin, 10, Jacob-James, three, and Brody, 15 months.
Jacob-James was in the process of finishing off a McDonalds happy meal, but his diet is partly dictated by his autism.
Jess said: “He will only really eat beige food, so a lot of it is processed – nuggets and oven chips and things. We’ve tried all sorts but that’s all we can get him to eat.”
Poor quality food costs less than healthy food, if you’re looking for reasons why kids are overweight there’s your answer.
Mum Gemma Jones
Irene adds: “Kids now, they get no exercise, they won’t go out. I never had any of this with my kids, they all walked and ran everywhere.
“Video games have been an issue, even for the little one, he has a phone and an ipad and all sorts.
“There is just too much time in the house but that’s not surprising because it’s not safe for them to go out on their own and there are no safe facilities near to us for them to play.”
Gemma Jones, 47, was eating lunch with three of her sons and her granddaughter on a bench between a branch of Greggs and Thomas The Baker, where three sausage rolls cost £1.75.
Gemma said: “Poor quality food costs less than healthy food, if you’re looking for reasons why kids are overweight there’s your answer.
“I could walk into that shop and buy three sausage rolls for next to nothing but if I wanted to buy baked potatoes and salads for all of us it would cost a small fortune.
“None of my kids are obese because we eat a good diet at home and don’t rely on takeaways but because of their budget some people have no choice.
“I like to make things like cottage pies and spaghetti bolognese for the family, something we can sit around the table and eat together.”
Her son Dean, 25, said: “Local authorities have to take some of the blame for this because there is a lack of investment in places where young people can go to stay active.
“There are also a lot of younger parents in Middlesbrough, we’re talking about girls of 16 and 17 who have children of their own and don’t have the maturity to provide nutritious meals for their youngsters.”
Across town on the deprived Grove Hill estate another queue is forming, but there’s a sense of urgency rather than anticipation here.
The Genesis Project, Middlesbrough’s largest food bank, operates out of the hall at St Oswald’s and St Chad’s Church and caters to around 600 people a week.
Rev Kath Dean gives away fruit and vegetables for nothing, on top of the 10 items visitors can take away for just £4.
There’s no mystery about why there are high levels of childhood obesity in Middlesbrough, the answer is obvious – it’s poverty.
Rev Kath Dean
However some are so unaccustomed to having veg in the house they ask how to cook it.
Rev Dean said: “You hand someone who is living day to day with next to nothing a beetroot and many of them won’t know how to prepare and boil it, that’s just the way life is for them.
“There’s no mystery about why there are high levels of childhood obesity in Middlesbrough, the answer is obvious – it’s poverty.”
Being overweight doesn’t automatically kill you.
But carrying excess fat is associated with lots of health problems.
Firstly, there’s heart disease.
Extra body fat can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, raising the chances of heart attacks.
Then we have type 2 diabetes.
Carrying excess weight makes your body resistant to insulin, resulting in high blood sugar levels and complications like kidney failure.
Obesity is also linked to 13 different cancers, which include:
Sleep apnea, which disrupts breathing during sleep and can make people snore, is another risk.
Not being able to breathe properly can lead to a sudden drop in oxygen levels, which can be bad for the heart.
Being obese can also impact mental health, often leading to depression and anxiety due to stigma and discrimination.
With the steel industry on which the town built a world-wide reputation now decimated and unemployment running at 6.7 per cent compared to the national average of 3.8 per cent, Middlesbrough has long found itself at the bottom of all economic indicators.
Some 40 per cent of children live in “absolute poverty” and a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found a growing number in the town are unable to meet the basic human needs of staying warm, dry, clean and fed.
Within the 16-64 age range 29 per cent of adults are outside paid work and not looking for a job and more than 15 per cent of those out of work are claiming health-related benefits, which is the highest in the UK and 8 per cent above the national average.
Children are eating unhealthy diets because their parents simply can’t afford to provide a healthy one and that really is an appalling state of affairs.
Shaun Sidgwick
Shaun Sidgwick of the Genesis Project said: “People have to decide, ‘do I want to heat the house today or do I want to eat?’
“And it’s much easier to make a crisp sandwich and give that to your child than it is to power an oven and make a roast with vegetables – to so many people in this town that’s just out of sight.
“Children are eating unhealthy diets because their parents simply can’t afford to provide a healthy one and that really is an appalling state of affairs, but that’s where we are and it’s why this organisation exists.”
Councillor Jan Ryles, Middlesbrough Council’s Executive member for Adult Social Care & Public Health, said: “Obesity is a hugely complex public health challenge, but it remains a sad fact that where a child lives will have a negative impact on their weight and health.
“That’s why addressing obesity is at the heart of our health and wellbeing plans in support of children and families.
“We are fully committed to helping people of all ages make healthier lifestyle choices, and earlier this year Middlesbrough Council signed up to the Healthy Weight Declaration, as well as piloting the auto-enrolment of free school meals to ensure more children who are eligible get a healthy meal at school each day.”
For more information on the Middlesbrough Healthy Weight Declaration, visit here.
