Slimming drinks will be given to overweight

Free slimming shakes and diets for children as young as three are part of a raft of proposals planned to tackle to an obesity epidemic in Sandwell.

Almost a third, or 28.7 per cent, of adults in Sandwell are classed as obese, the highest proportion in the Black Country.

Around 23 per cent of youngsters, a total of 800, are dangerously overweight.

The quick slim-style diets have been defended by bosses as a cheap option, compared to the £1.8 million spent on gastric bands by Sandwell Primary Care Trust in the last four years.

Under the plans the taxpayer would pay for diet shakes and meal replacement bars for severely overweight people, to prevent the need for costly surgery.

Health bosses said it is too early to say how much this would cost.

Councillor Pat Davies, vice-chair of Sandwell's health and older people scrutiny panel, said: "There isn't a lot of money around, but investing in these sorts of programmes now could save cash in the long run."

The plan to pay for diet food is one of 14 recommendations.