20/03/2017 Channel Islands News

Is the celebrity obsession with weight to blame

for girls as young as ten going on diets in Guernsey?

If you talk to even quite young children, six, 78 years old, how

they feel about how they look, quite a number of them are unhappy with

how they look and some would describe themselves as fat.

Good evening and welcome to the late news from BBC Channel Islands.

Charities in Jersey as being encouraged to help

There's concern children as young as six in Guernsey are becoming too

focused on their weight, with one local eating disorder

specialist saying in particular it's worrying how many ten-year-old girls

A recent survey revealed a third of primary school pupils

They're rich, they're famous, and, on the whole, they're thin and often

But is celebrity culture making us all too obsessed with our looks?

And, worryingly, is it it rubbing off on our children?

Even quite young children, six, seven, eight years old,

actually quite a number of them are unhappy about how they look,

A number of them, shockingly enough, say that they have been on a diet.

It's something nurses like Christine often come across.

She mainly deals with children that are perhaps overweight but she says

If parents can avoid saying that they are going on a diet,

I think if they don't give those messages out.

You eat food because it is nice food, that is a much better

Schools like this one are doing their bit,

with lessons focusing on making kids proud of their bodies.

Children are open to more things, for example the use of social media,

Rather than taking a negative slant, looking and comparing,

we've chosen to go down the positive route of celebrating

Everybody is different becuase they have different

They can think differently and feel differently.

I always hear lots of adults saying, "I am on a diet."

Actually it is not a diet, it is just a healthy lifestyle,

it is just what your lifestyle should be.

And, a lesson for us all to take on board perhaps.

Well, earlier today I spoke to Rosie Williams

who volunteers at The Hub - a charity in Guernsey that

offers support and advice to children from 11 to 18.

I started by asking her if this was an issue she'd experienced.

People come to us for a whole range of issues and one of the most

prominent as concerns about body image and self-confidence. It can be

a huge issue and I think it is often quite unspoken about so people will

come and talk to us but maybe will not tell their friends or family.

If so many Guernsey youngsters are concerned about their weight

from a young age, would you say they're more likely to develop

I think it is certainly a really higher risk. There are links between

body image and eating disorders. If it is not tackled from an early age

then it can definitely escalate. What advice would you give

to a young girl or young man who might be concerned

about their weight? I would definitely say to talk to

someone about it, your friends and family, open up. If you start

talking to people about it you can kind of tackle some of those issues

and see if maybe some of those thoughts are quite destructive or

concerning. If you don't tackle this now,

how serious a problem could the island be facing

in five years' time? It could be a lot more eating

disorders and other issues, Laura mood, -- Lower mood, anxiety and

body issues. Is this a ticking time bomb? Yes.

The body of a man has been recovered from rocks at Crabby Beach

in Alderney..Earlier this evening the Channel Islands Air Search

and the Alderney lifeboat were called out to look for Alderney

resident Keith Jones, who was reported missing

Guernsey police do not believe there are any suspicious

circumstances and the death is being treated as unexplained.A

Formal identification has not yet been carried out .

A postmortem examination is to be carried out on the body of a man

recovered from the sea at Pleinmont in Guernsey.

A large scale air, land and sea search was carried out over

the weekend for 50-year-old Patrick Eker, who went

A formal identification is expected later.

The police are not treating the death as suspicious.

A disciplinary hearing has heard how an ambulance station officer

in Guernsey failed to follow up a 999 call from an elderly man

Jason Garnham was on duty when Alan Hamilton dialled 999 -

but the call was cut off and attempts to call him

Procedures including logging the call and dispatching the police

and ambulance were not followed through and Mr Hamilton's body

The hearing in Southampton continues.

Charities in Jersey are being encouraged to hire people who've

been unemployed for a long time, using a States Back To Work scheme.

The scheme offers companies and other groups funding

for training and up to six months' salary if they take

But there's some concern it doesn't suit much of the charity sector.

Sammi is learning the ropes for her new admin role

at a young people's charity - the Barnardo's service

Previously unemployed, her salary here is being covered

Without this help, the charity couldn't have afforded her.

Sammi's come in and she's picked up the admin work for Plan B.

She's able to do the basic admin and project workers are able to work

with young people on the ground so, yeah, a huge difference.

Sammi isn't the only one who's found work through this

The Social Security department set the scheme up three

and a half years ago, and it's so far cost

It's funded roles for 150 roles for people who were previously out

of work and, of those, about half had their employment

extended in those placements or found work elsewhere.

But, while it doesn't have exact figures, the department admits

there's a relatively low take-up of the scheme among charities.

They're trying to change that, but it seems they might

The scheme doesn't work as well for charities as it does

The charities don't always have the resources to continue

employing that person, so unfortunately they take them

for the short time that covers it and then they have to let them go.

So can the States do anything to help?

Obviously, some charities do continue employing people

particularly if they've been beneficial to the organisation,

It's sad if the charity can't continue with employment but,

from the client's perspective, they've had valuable

This particular Jersey charity has had previous

success with the scheme, but even they admit finances

will have to be assessed before they can commit to keeping Sammi

on after the six-month funding runs out.

Sport now and it's been announced that Guernsey and Jersey cricket

teams will be heading to Johnannsburg later in the year

for the World Cricket League Five tournament.

The South African city was chosen over Jersey and the Netherlands

2017 is going to be an exciting year for Guernsey cricket according

to the head of the sport in the island.

Jersey Reds have climbed to fifth in the Championship

They beat Rotherham Titans 17-9 at St Peter.

And Congratulations to Guernsey's Ladies Rugby Team

They ended their season in style with an 85-0 victory over Worthing.

It's the start of another week so let's see what the forecast has

We have seen some sunshine today. We have seen a spell of rain but the

weather front has cleared and we have clear skies. We will see a

little more sunshine than today. As we had through this week, it will be

a cold start, certainly the next few days, some rain at times, sometimes

quite heavy. Breezy as well. It will settle down towards the end of the

week. The cold front has cleared out of the way so a little bit of a

breeze but largely clear skies overnight, one or two showers.

Tomorrow through daylight hours it will be a much better day. It will

feel cold but it should be dry with plenty of sunshine. Wednesday is a

bit of a mess. Early rain followed by brightness in the afternoon and

much lighter winds. Thursday, rain and merging into a heavy downpours.

Some hail and thunder as well. Friday settles down, much brighter

conditions and like winds. Some showers at the moment clearing

through quickly on a brisk wind. Largely clear skies between the

showers but even with the breeze we could get down as low as 5-6 saw it

it's going to be a chilly night. One or two isolated showers tomorrow but

by the time most of us get up it will be dry and bright with a lot of

sunshine. Still breezy and I think it will be deceptive because you

will see blue skies but it will still feel cold. Temperatures 9-10.

Showers and outbreaks of brain through the middle part of the week

and it settles down through Friday into the weekend and it will warm up

slightly. That's your news

this Monday evening. BBC Radio Guernsey and Jersey

will have bulletins from six tomorrow morning and I'll be back

at 6.30 tomorrow. outlook for Saturday and Sunday is

for something dry and settled, sunny spells but a bit on the cool side.

This week we are starting off with a taste of winter. This is Paul and

maritime air, it has come from a long way north and will push in lots

of showers. The last of any mild air gets swept away with the cloud.

Tonight we have showers mostly across the northern half of the UK,

which will turn wintry and that means more snow, particularly across

Scotland and Northern Ireland, perhaps northern