A LOCAL student recently went to No 10 Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister's wife, Samantha Cameron.

Rebecca Bonsor, of Coldridge, a student at Queen Elizabeth's Academy, Crediton, was the runner-up in a nationwide competition to design a healthy meal.

The competition was organised as part of National Obesity Awareness Week and by coming second, Rebecca also won £1,000 worth of sports equipment for QE Academy.

Mrs Cameron hosted a reception at 10 Downing Street for those who did well in the competition on behalf of the National Obesity Forum and The Walt Disney Company UK, competition sponsors.

It was also attended by political figures and policy makers as part of National Obesity Awareness Week 2014, the aim of which was to tackle the growing public health problem of obesity.

The reception, held on Tuesday, January 14, aimed to raise awareness of the emerging epidemic of obesity and the effect that it is likely to have on both individuals and the NHS.

The 2007 Foresight Report warned that as much as 50 per cent of the UK population could be obese at a cost of £50 billion a year by 2050.

The National Obesity Forum's goal for National Obesity Awareness Week 2014 was to encourage the public to take action and promote the manageable ways obesity can be tackled.

Mrs Cameron also had the opportunity to meet a number of children and young people at the reception who had won the Awareness Week's national healthy living competition, in partnership with Disney. The winners of the competition were awarded funding towards the development of an outdoor area for their school or early years setting. Runners-up of the competition were awarded funding for sports equipment for their settings.

Professor David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: "We would like to thank Mrs Cameron for hosting this important event.

"Obesity is one of the biggest public health problems facing our society. Tackling it may seem like an enormous job, but it's not impossible.

"By understanding how we can all be a bit healthier and by committing to manageable things like eating healthier or being more physically active, we can avoid the gloomy prediction that in 36 years' time half of us will be obese.

"By providing the public with a fun and informative week, we hope to both inspire action and educate everyone on how they can make small changes that will have an incredible impact on their long-term health."

Matthew Grossman, vice president corporate citizenship, The Walt Disney Company (Europe, Middle East and Africa) explained: "The Walt Disney Company seeks to inspire children and their families to lead healthier lifestyles by making every day healthy decisions when it comes to food, exercise and overall well-being.

"By challenging children to create imaginative meals that are tasty and nutritious, we hope we have inspired their creativity to make learning about healthy living fun and relevant."

Alan Quick