The health service offering check ups at check out

Automatic health check machines are being installed at six public points - including libraries and supermarkets - across Norfolk.

The equipment, which measures BMI, body fat and blood pressure, offers lifestyle advice and can signpost people to see a pharmacist or GP if they have worrying results.

Norwich, King's Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and North Walsham have been chosen because they have higher levels of deprivation associated with cardiac risk.

Public health experts from Norfolk County Council (NCC) said users received instant results and personalised advice to help them make healthy changes.

Suzanne Wilkin, public health principal at NCC, said hundreds of checks have already been carried out at machines in supermarkets, village halls and libraries.

She said: "It's a self-service guided health check.

"It will give you your risk score and guidance and recommendations about what you might need to do next."

She said the areas were specifically chosen to target people in need.

"Cardiovascular disease tends to be more prevalent in areas of deprivation," said Wilkin.

"We've located our health stations in those particular areas, in settings where they're highly accessible, so supermarkets that are open till midnight, or a library that already has that ethos of supporting the local community to get healthier."

People using the machines do need an email address to take a health check, but library staff at King's Lynn say they can help users set one up.

Jo Foster-Murdoch is a community librarian responsible for public health across Norfolk's libraries.

She said that health checks fitted in really well with the health education and support already being delivered.

"People do always still think libraries are just about books but they're there much more than that," said Foster-Murdoch.

"We've always been a really good source of reliable health information.

"Now we can help people find good health information rather than just googling your symptoms."

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