Daily Mail: An obese mother-of-two who lives on benefits says she needs more of taxpayers’ money to overhaul her unhealthy lifestyle.
Christina Briggs, 26, from Wigan, says she hates being 25 stone but she can’t do anything about it because she can only afford junk food. Meanwhile, exercise is out of the question because she doesn’t have the funds to join a gym.
The single mother told Closer Magazine: “It’s not easy being overweight and on benefits. If I was well off, I’d be able to buy fresh food and afford a gym membership. “I tried swimming but it costs 22 British Pounds ($35.13 US dollars) a month and it meant I had to cut back on my favorite pizza and Chinese takeaways.”
Unemployed Christina gets 22,000 British Pounds ($31,938 US Dollars) in benefits a year and lives in a council house with her two children by different fathers, Helena, 10, and Robert, two. She left school as a teenager after falling pregnant with her daughter following a one night stand.
The family feast everyday on takeaways, chocolate and crisps as Christina says they can’t afford low fat foods. As a result, the mother is currently a dress size 26.
She has been warned by her GP that her health is in danger because of her size – medical complications relating to obesity include heart disease and diabetes. Christina is desperate not to leave her two children without a mother and doesn’t want her size to take her to an early grave. But she insists “it’s not my fault – healthy food is too expensive”.
She feels her only hope is for the government to give her more money so she can afford to buy fruit and vegetables and join a gym. She also believes she should be paid to lose weight as that would give her the motivation to fight the flab.
She told the magazine: “I need more benefits to eat healthy and exercise. It would be good if the government offered a cash incentive for me to lose weight. I’d like to get one British Pound ($1.60 US Dollars) for every pound I lose, or healthy food vouchers. “If the price of healthy food was lowered that would help, too. I need help but I need it from the government.“
She added that she can’t get a job to gain more money because she’s needed at home to care for her children, especially as her daughter has ADHD and issues with her kidneys. She explained: “There’s no way I could get a job. I don’t feel bad about the taxpayer funding my life and my child’s medical problems, because I don’t treat myself or buy anything excessive. I just get enough money to live on – the taxpayers should help fund my diet.“
Never mind the ridiculous claim that she can’t afford to eat healthy (she could start by eating at home instead of takeaways) or work out – how did she pay for her hair coloring, face piercing and tattoos?
DCG