Childhood obesity is a key public health priority and a significant contemporary health concern; it is one of the leading preventable causes of death and associated long term health risks.
Today, nearly a third of children aged two to 15 are overweight or obese (Childhood obesity: a plan for action, DH 22017) and it’s increasingly affecting children at a younger age who are staying obese for longer. Reducing obesity levels will save lives as it doubles the risk of dying prematurely.
Tackling the issue is complex and the most effective interventions are multi component, holistic and involve the whole family. These can and do make a difference to the health and wellbeing of school-aged children and those working with children and young people recognise how by working with them they can support behaviour change and improve life chances.
School nurses lead the healthy child programme supporting children, young people and families facing both challenges and opportunities. They are well placed to work with these groups to tackle obesity and promote healthy lifestyles.
Clearly school nurses are skilled in working with children and young people, seeing them as assets in their communities, playing an important role in early intervention and prevention and making a real difference by creating a climate for change.
Using evidenced based techniques and their universal contacts, school nurses are able to provide early identification, support health promotion and change management around healthy lifestyles. All too often practitioners are using really creative approaches but don’t have the opportunity to share and learn.
So in March this year, Public Health England (PHE) and the Burdett Trust for Nursing hosted a symposium; ‘State of The Nation: Maternal and Childhood Obesity’. Attendees included school nurses and other key partners well placed to tackle childhood obesity.
We wanted delegates to promote an evidenced based approach on tackling obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles, from conception to adulthood, while addressing key priorities in terms of child and maternal health.
The event heard how PHE continues to develop the evidence base through ‘All Our Health’, which is a call to action to healthcare professionals working with patients and the population to prevent illness, protect health and promote wellbeing.
We heard how reviewing childhood obesity from a life course approach can provide an opportunity to establish where professions can work together and where they can provide strong leadership.
The examples of good practice and innovate approaches from the obesity event really were inspirational. One of the highlights was Harrison’s Journey, read his blog to discover more!
ablish where professional could work together and where they could provide strong leadership. The examples of good practice and innovate approaches really were inspirational; probably the highlights were – Harrisons Journey, read his blog to discover more!
- Another highlight was the first screening of Alt.life – a powerful edgy film addressing body image through a different lensThe day created space to learn, share and network. We know school nurses can make a difference with childhood obesity and look forward to hearing more examples of the creative approaches.
Resources
- A range of digital badges supporting children and young people to understand and adopt healthy lifestyle choices
- Obesity infographic
- 456 model
- High impact areas
- Change4Life resources
- Digital badges on healthy eating and physical activity
Penny Greenwood is Associate Lead Nurse for Children, Young People and Families at Public Health England
2 comments
Comment by Bernadette wood posted on
At two years it is possible to spot this first onset of increased BMI and initiate preventative work and education on portion size, outdoor activity and sugar swaps which can reverse the trend to increasing weight.
Sadly public health in my locality is looking to reduce the HCP provision at two and the universal child growth and dietary element at that review may be discontinued. It also concerns me that government obesity policy does not include promotion of and support for Breastfeeding. Neither is there consideration of the importance of breastfeeding in government legisative policy planning and process.
Comment by Viv Bennett posted on
Thank you for your comment.
From 1 October 2015, local authorities took over responsibility for commissioning public health services for children aged 0-5 from NHS England, this included health visiting. Local authorities now determine the model and investment of the healthy child programme in their area and as such there will be variations, but the 2 year review is one of the five mandated contacts (https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/hlth-vistg-prog/5-key-visits/)
Breastfeeding is a national priority and is recognised within Public Health England’s (PHE) commitment to ensuring every child has the best start in life (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-matters-giving-every-child-the-best-start-in-life/health-matters-giving-every-child-the-best-start-in-life) and is the focus of one of the six public health priorities described in the High Impact Areas for Early Years; breastfeeding is High Impact Area 3 (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/563921/Early_years_high_impact_area3_breastfeeding.pdf). Breastfeeding data is also collected as part of the Public Health Outcomes framework (http://www.phoutcomes.info/search/breastfeeding).
Giving every child the best start in life is a priority for PHE. The evidence tells us that breastfeeding is an important contribution to the health of both mother and baby and there are many PHE resources to support and guide mothers to breastfeed their babies, and for professionals to support them in doing so. Only last month PHE launched the Start4Life campaign which highlights the importance of supporting new mums to start and continue breastfeeding for longer (https://www.nhs.uk/start4life/breastfeeding).
The Department of Health and PHE have also produced guidance to support both commissioners and local providers including 0-19 commissioning guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-child-programme-0-to-19-health-visitor-and-school-nurse-commissioning). The materials are based on evidence and good practice. Breastfeeding remains a national priority promoting the benefits of breastfeeding, making information as accessible as possible and helping mothers make the best choice for their baby
PHE worked with Unicef UK, for example producing guidance to support commissioning of services to help to improve breastfeeding rates in local areas. Working together with services, we hope that over time it will be easier for mothers everywhere to breastfeed.