Hull Mum Urges Parents Help Tackle Obesity Epidemic

A Hull mum who recently lost over 8 stone is calling on parents to help tackle the city's obesity problem.

Hull's among the worst areas in the country for childhood obesity - with around 20% of primary school children in the city classed as being obese.

35-year-old Alex Hook used to weigh 22 stone but realised she had to make changes after having her three children.

She told Viking FM:

"It got to the point where I wouldn't even go to the school gates because I was embarassed at how I'd ended up. The kids have had a few nasty comments at school before about having an overweight mum in the past and I think that is quite cutting and not only for me but for them too.

"I'm kind of teaching them now that they need to make those choices now especially with the way that society is now, how cheap sweets are and how they are a lot more readily available to children now. For example a normal size bag of sweets is nearly as much as a big grab bag so even my children if they've got some money to go and buy something they're going to go for the big bag and it means they're eating like three times the amount.

"I sometimes feel like I've wasted the first part of my life health-wise. The last time I did go to doctors before I started on this weight loss journey they did offer me a gastric band and I said that I didn't want that. I was only there last week and it was the same doctor that had seen me before and he couldn't believe the change in me because he hasn't seen me for nearly two years."