All parents with children under five in Greater Glasgow will have access to a pioneering scheme that led to child obesity rates plummeting in Leeds.
Data gathered by health visitors in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde board area over 2021-22 found that 33% of toddlers were either overweight or obese and rates were highest in Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire.
A combination of poor diet, sedentary lifestyles, and food insecurity are contributing to the rising trend with a clear link to deprivation. Analysis has shown that 'healthy' food is up to three times more expensive than convenience food.
Two thirds of all adults in NHSGGC are overweight or obese and there is widespread recognition that the problem begins in early childhood and that it disproportionately affects children from deprived communities.
READ MORE: Obesity rates highest in Scotland's poorest five-year-olds
By the time children reach primary 1, a quarter of children will be too heavy and this rises to 30% of 16-24 year olds.
The risks of obesity are life-limiting and life-threatening. They include cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes and mean life expectancy of today’s children may well be shorter than that of their parents,
Since 2008, all health visitors and early years practitioners in Leeds have been trained in the HENRY programme (Health, Exercise, Nutrition for the Really Young).
It addresses all aspects of family life, including parenting, family relationships, emotional wellbeing, family routines, nutrition and physical activity.
Tom Berry, head of business development at Henry, explained: "Parents’ ability to set and hold boundaries is crucial for a healthy family lifestyle, affecting what, when and how children eat, how active they are, how much time they spend in front of screens and much more.
READ MORE: Trial weight-loss drugs in Scotland says new obesity expert
"We help parents to develop effective skills and strategies to engage the whole family in healthier eating and activity habits – as well as providing the quality of relationships that children need in order to flourish."
Rigorous evaluation of the scheme has shown it is possible to reduce childhood obesity significantly.
The prevalence of obesity has fallen significantly (9.4% to 8.8%), whilst comparable cities and England as a whole, showed no change and the impact has been greater in areas of deprivation.
The health board said it is committed to "universal delivery" of HENRY to families with pre-five children with 200 staff involved in early years health and education trained in the programme by March 2024.
The board will also offer free weight management services for adolescents and develop community food networks to help families source healthier food, cookery classes.
Dr Emilia Crighton, Director of Public Health for NHSGGC, who compiled the report, said: "Prevention of overweight and obesity within the population requires multi-level action; working at a societal level to address the obesogenic environment; adopting a life stage approach whereby interventions are tailored to different age groups, as well as providing a comprehensive approach to weight maintenance, weight management and supported lifestyle changes to address the chronic relapsing nature of the condition."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel