Kirklees’ health chief has proclaimed health and wellbeing in the district as the worst she’s even seen.

Addressing a meeting of doctors and health officials in Huddersfield, Dr Judith Hooper said: “I have to say, I’ve never seen it this dark before in all the years I’ve been doing this.”

Dr Hooper, Kirklees director of public health, made the comments as she provided a summary of research into Kirklees residents’ health and finances.

Kirklees Council’s annual Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JNSA) paints a gloomy picture of public health over the past year.

And for the first time it has revealed that residents living in south Huddersfield, including Dalton, Newsome and Almondbury, are in as poor health as Kirklees’ historically worst areas of Batley and Dewsbury.

Dr Hooper revealed her biggest concerns were for women of child bearing age, who she condemned as a “nightmare”.

Director of Public Health Judith Hooper
Director of Public Health Judith Hooper

She said they were “getting fatter” and continuing to take risks with their health through smoking and drinking while pregnant.

People in the Holme and Colne valleys were revealed as the biggest binge drinkers, consuming more than three pints of beer or glasses of wine per day.

Huddersfield’s south Asian population and residents of the south side of town were slammed for eating the most fast food.

Obesity levels were highest in the black population, with 30% considered far too fat.

Smoking levels have been described as “stubbornly high”, especially for people on low incomes, with women and older people being least likely to want to give up.

Child poverty was worst in Newsome, where one in three families is said to be living below the breadline.

Across Kirklees one in five families are defined as being in poverty, the majority of which are single parents.

Cancer rates in the under 75s were highest in the Holme Valley, but health officials are mystified as to why.

On the good news side, the number of infant deaths has fallen, more young people are eating fruit and vegetables, and the number of youngsters taking up smoking has dropped.

The JNSA will be used by the council, health and social care organisations to plan services and further tackle some of the challenges affecting the health and wellbeing of all residents.

Dr Hooper, added: “The population of Kirklees is changing – there are more children and older people and the size of the south Asian population is increasing.

“These coupled with the changing nature of work, as people work longer and move jobs more often, and the changing make-up of the family unit all have broad implications for health and wellbeing locally.”

“We need to focus on early detection of signs and symptoms of ill health, for example taking advantage of screening for cancers, and encouraging early intervention and prevention of ill-health.

“Food remains the issue with the greatest scope for change in addressing the rising tide of obesity.”

Clr Mehboob Khan, who chairs the Kirklees Health and Wellbeing Board, said: “Some people are making healthier choices about how they live their lives and we need to encourage more to do the same.

“However we also need to address the avoidable differences in health and wellbeing between groups of people in Kirklees and tackle the variability of service quality for different groups of people.

“The report reinforces the need for organisations to work in a much more joined up way that enables support based around the needs of individual people, in a way that fits with their way of life, their family and within their local community.”

Yorkshire folk are living closer to the breadline than any others, it is claimed.

A survey of saving levels has revealed the average Tyke has just £260 in back-up funds.

The money would last just seven days – the lowest in the UK.

Meanwhile people living in the West Midlands could survive on their£1,470 reserves for 40 days.

The average UK citizen holds savings of around £660 which would last 18 days – almost triple the Yorkshire level.

The research, by Legal and General and the Centre for Economic and Business Research, also revealed the average 18 to 24-year-old couldn’t survive more than a day if they lost their job or income.

More than half of people in that age bracket had no savings.

The ‘Deadline to Breadline’ report found the UK average had deteriorated by one day from just one year ago.

A spokesman said: “It’s a wake-up call to think that within three weeks of a family or individual losing their usual sources of income, the average UK household will be reliant upon state benefits and friends and family alone for financial support.

“With the many planned welfare reforms, austerity measures and Government cuts, it’s more important than ever to take some action now and put as little as �6 a month into helping give you and your loved ones some financial protection.”