Doctors say new road plans can drive off obesity

8:39am Friday 25th May 2007

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The key to solving the increasingly prevelant problem of childhood obesity is urban design, according to one of Croydon's top doctors.

Director of health at Croydon Primary Care Trust Dr Tim Crayford said more children would be able to cycle or walk to school if the routes were made safer.

“If we want to give our streets back to children and young people, we need to be looking at our urban areas and take cyclists away from our main, arterial roads.”

Dr Tim Crayford

"If we want to give our streets back to children and young people, we need to be looking at our urban areas and take cyclists away from our main, arterial roads," he said, "We need far more no-through roads in urban and residential areas which would have a big effect on communities. Urban design is the key to cracking this problem."

Dr Crayford, who is also president of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said cyclists should use urban cycle arterial routes - a network of minor roads in which cyclists, not cars, would have right of way.

"This would keep car drivers happy on main roads, because they wouldn't share them with so many cyclists, and cyclists happy on minor streets because they'd feel safe," he added.

Dr Crayford dismissed reports claiming he supported a scheme where parents would be required to carry permits to allow them to drive their children to school.

However, he lent his support to the idea pupils under the age of 16 should not be allowed to leave school at lunchtime to potentially buy junk food.

He went on to say that by 2009 he hoped schools in Croydon would have signed up to the Healthy Schools Initiative, which promotes wellbeing and fitness as part of educational life.

He added: "We've had a great deal of support from Croydon schools for our healthy schools initiative. Jamie Oliver did a great deal for raising the profile on what goes into children's food. The borough is very geared up in this initiative but we do need to do more work with the secondary schools."

About 25 to 30 per cent of adults are now overweight or obese and in Croydon, one in five adults are obese and one in three are overweight. The worst wards for obesity are Fieldway, New Addington and North Croydon. Nationally, 30 per cent of girls and 20 per cent of boys are now obese.