Healthwatch Oxfordshire chairman Eddie Duller OBE looks at the next crisis facing our health services – the rising issue of childhood obesity

We are sitting on a time bomb that could blow your mind – and possibly our health services.

Not only is it affecting every one of us, it is affecting our children already and it will be the next crisis that will hit the headlines.

The discussion about health is currently around reshaping the services, which the health authorities and Oxfordshire County Council say are unaffordable in their present form.

The National Health Service, which was once the envy of the developed world, is creaking at the seams, the community services provided by the local authority are fast disappearing and arrangements for home care are under severe stress.

In the main we are being told that is because people are living longer, which means the cost of hospital and other forms of care have gone through the roof because older people tend to suffer from complex health problems simultaneously.

There are other problems, which are now well known, such as the shortage of GPs and carers, and the authorities have a gigantic task in looking after people in a different way. The discussion is about to surface so that the people who pay for the services can have their say before the authorities decide.

But what about the next generation?

Deep in the pages of a vital revision of the health and wellbeing strategy for Oxfordshire lies the time bomb that will create the next crisis – obesity, which in turn can lead to other serious physical and mental problems.

The shocking news is that just under 10 per cent of children in reception classes are obese.

Even more worrying is the fact that by the time they are 10 or 11 years of age the percentage rises to 16 per cent.

Bear in mind that these figures are the average for the county. The figures are much higher in more deprived areas in Oxford and Banbury and some other parts of Oxfordshire.

In some areas the level of obesity at reception class level can be as high as 18 per cent, which goes up to 28 per cent for children who are 10 or 11 years old.

Although these figures are by no means as serious as those in some parts of the country, the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board – the body made up of county and district councillors, health authorities and Healthwatch Oxfordshire and which sets the strategy for keeping people well – is making it a priority to reduce these figures.

The reason for this is that, according to medical opinion, obesity leads directly to diabetes which in turn can lead to a host of other more serious conditions. It is a pathway to permanent ill health as people get older.

It is obvious that parents can take a lead here by providing a healthy diet and encouraging their children to take part in some form of physical activity.

Again, in comparison to the rest of the country, people in Oxfordshire are doing well according to a national survey. But the fact is that this survey showed that 22 per cent of the population are inactive and do not even attain 30 minutes of physical activity a week. It is becoming clearer by the moment, as the debate about how to provide health and social care at a more affordable cost gathers momentum, that it is right to focus on the younger generation as well as keeping the elderly safe and well. There is a strong case for discussion on how people can look after themselves better, and that is clearly through leading a healthier lifestyle.

At the moment no-one knows how health and social care will shape up in the future and there will be formal consultation with the public later in the year. Current thinking is that it should be provided closer to home.

In the meantime there is a great opportunity for individuals of all ages to give their point of view as a Big Conversation takes place through drop in events in the major towns in the county. Doctors and other health and care experts will be on hand to answer questions.

It is also an opportunity to think wider on how people can help themselves.