I can’t afford to be healthy, says mum on £20k benefits
A SINGLE mother who weighs 25 stone and receives £20,000 in state benefits has made a plea for more money from the taxpayer to buy healthier food and a gym membership.
Christina Briggs, 26, says she does not exercise because she cannot afford entry to a gym and that her weight problem is partly due to the fact that she can only afford junk food.
Unemployed, she lives in a council house in Hindley, near Wigan, with her two children, aged ten and two, by different fathers.
Miss Briggs has been warned by her GP that her health is in danger because she is morbidly obese – at risk of medical complications such as
‘Ten packets of crisps a day’
heart disease and diabetes. But she told Closer Magazine: ‘It’s not my fault – healthy food is too expensive. I need more benefits to eat healthily and exercise.
‘It’s not easy being overweight and on benefits.
‘If I was well off, I’d be able to buy f r esh f ood and af f ord a gym membership.
‘I tried swimming but it cost £22 a month and it meant I had to cut back on my favourite pizza and Chinese takeaways.’
A dress size 26, she claims she cannot go out to work because she has to care for her children, Helena and Robert, especially as her daughter has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and kidney problems.
Miss Briggs said she is desperate not to leave her children without a mother and that she does not want her size to take her to an early grave.
‘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,’ she added. ‘I just get enough money to live on – the taxpayers should help fund my diet.’
After a barrage of criticism on Twitter, Miss Briggs yesterday told ITV’s This Morning she could ‘understand the outrage’ and explained how she had piled on the pounds.
She said: ‘I grew up with my mum, who’s a big build, and she’d cook me and my five siblings, who are a normal size, hearty meals like sausage and mash for dinner.
‘On the way to school, I’d have a bacon sandwich and snack on crisps and chocolate. Then I was bullied over my weight, so I’d comfort-eat.’