Within England, the number of children who are obese is increasing and has more than tripled over the past 25 years.
The London Borough of Brent is one of the most deprived boroughs in London and has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity in England with one in four children (27%) in Reception who are overweight or obese compared to the national average of 22% and one in three and a half of children in year six (40%) are overweight or obese versus the national average of 35%.
Poor dental hygiene has also been identified as a major health concern in Brent with 46% of five year olds already have one or more decayed, missing or filled teeth compared to 27.9% in England in 2012.
Tackling childhood obesity is a priority for Brent Coucil as outlined in Brent’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2014-2017 and are dedicated to giving ‘every child the best start in life’.
The ‘Healthy Little Eaters’ programme is a targeted intervention funded by Brent Council and delivered by dietitians from Brent Community Services, London North West Healthcare NHS Trust. The programme is set in Children’s Centers across Brent and aims to improve health and wellbeing of children under five and their families. It is delivered over eight to ten weeks, each week focusing on a different nutrition and eating topic where parents learn about: reducing sugar and salt; foods for bone health; label reading; importance of fruit and vegetables; fussy eating and weaning.
Each session (2 hours) comprises of nutrition education and discussion, cooking with children and parents, and of course eating! Working in partnership, Brent’s Oral Health Promotion Team also attend a session to promote good oral health for families.
In February 2016, the total cost per family attending a full programme was £12.43 equating to approximately £1.55 per child per session.
Evaluations have shown that the the programme has been successful in: improving nutrition knowledge (99%); increasing confidence reading food labels (90%); choosing healthier snacks (50%); decreasing salt added to meals per week (71%); decreasing child food refusal (51%) and reported decrease in take-out meals per week (48%).
Qualitative data reveal that families view the programme as a fun and safe environment to include the child in cooking and to try news foods and recipes and have benefited from the programme in a number of ways.
One parent stated that the programme is ‘…very useful, fun and interactive…I had a lot of trouble with my child with fussing eating…I actually got really good tips about how to manage my child’s behavior during meal times and now longer struggle. I also enjoyed learning about the sugar and salt content in foods and label reading. I am much more informed about the foods I choose for my family’.
Peter Firkin, Manager of Wykeham Children’s Centre in Brent says, ‘The ‘Healthy Little Eaters’ programme has played a significant role at our Children’s Centres and we are glad to have worked with such lovely facilitators who do their best in reinforcing and supporting positive, healthy lifestyles for our families’.
Since its commencement in 2008 the team have delivered more than 500 programmes across 15 Children’s Centers in Brent, reaching approximately 1000 families.
The ‘Healthy Little Eaters’ programme illustrates that efforts in preventing childhood obesity can be a low cost measure with life changing benefits. Ongoing funding is a necessity to ensure Brent’s future generation continues to receive a healthier start.
Delivery team: Breeana Gardiner (Registered Dietitian) Farhat Hamid (Head of Nutrition & Dietetics, Community Services Brent) London North West Healthcare NHS Trust