A new project, funded by Derbyshire County Council, will see Derbyshire football clubs delivering weight management projects to men.
Derbyshire County Council is providing over £240,000 of funding to Derby County FC Community Trust and Chesterfield FC Community Trust so they can deliver Tier 2 weight management services targeted at men.
Cabinet Member for Health and Communities, Councillor Carol Hart said: “Tackling obesity is a key national priority and in Derbyshire 66.8% of adults are classed as overweight or obese.
“Being overweight or obese is associated with an increased risk of diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.
“There is also now consistent evidence that people who catch Covid-19 and are overweight or obese are more likely to be admitted to hospital, admitted to an intensive care unit and sadly to die from Covid-19.”
Weight management services traditionally attract mainly female clients and Derbyshire County Council’s inhouse lifestyles service Live Life Better Derbyshire is no different with approximately 80% of clients being female.
The additional funding comes from the Government who, in July 2020, launched ‘Tackling obesity: Empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.
As part of this all local authorities in England were offered additional funding to either expand existing adult Tier 2 behavioural weight management services or create new services.
For Derbyshire the additional funding is £442,000.
£246,000 of that funding is being used to commission Derby County FC Community Trust and Chesterfield FC Community Trust to deliver tier 2 weight management services aimed at men.
Derby County FC Community Trust will receive £123,000 to deliver services in the south of the county covering Amber Valley, Erewash, South Derbyshire and South Dales while Chesterfield FC Community Trust will get £123,000 to focus on the north covering Chesterfield, Bolsover, NE Derbyshire, High Peak and North Dales.
Sharon Dale, Health Manager from Derby County Community Trust said: “We are really excited to expand our weight management service out into the wider county to support males to achieve their goals.
“Our team have years of experience and expertise in helping participants to make healthier lifestyle choices, which we can’t wait to put into practice in this new project.”
Derbyshire County Council’s healthy lifestyles service Live Life Better Derbyshire offers free support to residents to help them stop smoking, lose weight and get more active.
To find out more visit www.livelifebetterderbyshire.org.uk or call 0800 085 2299