Solving Lancashire’s obesity problem (Assignment 2 - article 2)

Blackpool has recently been recognised as an ‘obesogenic environment ,’ meaning that the lack of green space in the area is contributing to the rise in obesity.

Studies carried out by NHS Blackpool revealed the lack of health education, the congestive conditions and few exercise amenities available, are all contributing to Lancashire’s childhood and adult obesity problem.

Positive pathways for change
In an attempt to stabilise this problem, Blackpool Primary Care Trust is working alongside local authorities providing strategies and pathways for overweight adults and children.

The care pathway is designed to make help available at every stage in life and provide accessible guidance to those who want help losing weight.

Nikolas Storey, obesity coordinator for Blackpool Primary Care Trust, has been designing the pathway and formulating the action for Blackpool and other areas of Lancashire for the last six months. He said: “The strategies have a holistic approach and are based on simple, healthy lifestyle messages. They are based on encouragement and are implemented through frontline staff such as teachers, social workers, health practitioners and GPs.”

The strategy is based on four nationally recognised programmes: baby friendly; healthy eating; healthy schools and healthy futures.

Baby friendly programme
“Breast feeding is one of the only areas with strong evidence of obesity prevention,” adds Nikolas.

“There are strong links between babies who have been breast fed for the first year of their lives and a reduced chance of becoming obese. This fact is at the core of the ‘baby friendly programme,’ which encourages mums to breast feed their child for the first year of its life.”

NHS Blackpool has invested considerable amounts of money in the baby friendly initiative as Blackpool currently has the second lowest breast feeding rate in the country. The national average of 50% is where Blackpool hopes to be in terms of breastfeeding in the next five years.

Healthy eating programme
The ‘healthy eating programme’ works with children aged 1-5 and their parents to ensure mums and dads have the skills to be able to feed their child as healthily as possible.

The programme utilises the fact that the mum and child are together and provides cooking classes and physical activities that both parent and child can take part in.

“Providing a friendly and educative setting is so important for future eating patterns and the way you approach your lifestyle. That is one of the key focuses of this programme” added Nikolas.

Healthy schools programme
The healthy schools programme is designed to improve a school’s approach to a healthy lifestyle and looks at everything that head teachers, school nurses and healthy school’s coordinator’s can do make school children’s lives healthier.

Funded by the NHS and Blackpool council , the programme wants all schools in Blackpool to reach the status of ‘healthy school’ in the next two years. So far 60% have the status.

Healthy Futures
The healthy futures programme is commissioned by Blackpool Council and delivered by both the NHS and the council to help adults who want to change their unhealthy lifestyle.

The programme is characterised by the following three sectors:

· Active for health - an eight week course of group circuits and cardiovascular activity
· Plus Life – An educational talk once a week on how to eat healthily on a budget
· Cardiac Rehab – For those who are extremely obese, who have issue with their heart

“Difficulty”
Nikolas added: “What makes our programmes difficult is that we’re constantly fighting against the obesogenic environment. The media is so often inhibiting us from being healthy by suggesting it’s ‘too dangerous’ to walk to work alone.

“One of our main challenges is to combat this and overcome the environmental factors that stop us being the healthy nation that we used to be.

“Our challenge is to give people an option, give them a chance and give them a future.”

A Preston primary school’s fight against childhood obesity (Assignment 2 -article 1)

With one in four children starting school in Lancashire obese, Clayton Brook Primary school is playing a large part in trying to change this statistic.

The school, near Bamber Bridge in Preston, is applying the government’s ‘Every child matters campaign' by carrying out unique strategies such as parent and child cookery courses, school council meetings, and food tasting sessions to ensure every child is kept fit and healthy.

‘£119 million per year’
Figures released last month revealed the NHS in Lancashire are spending around £119 million a year on caring for and treating overweight adults and children and it’s expected this figure will increase.

Anne Smith, Head teacher at Clayton Brook primary, understands the importance of a school’s influence on a healthy lifestyle. She said: “I think everybody knows how influential a school is on children’s lives. From the nursery and reception stage children are encouraged to eat healthily, not only at lunch time, but with the snacks they choose to eat.”

Staying active
Every morning all the children are encouraged to take part in the ‘wake n’ shake’ activity. Lasting for about 15 minutes it aims to give all the children a healthy start to the day. With timetabled physical education of 1.5 hours per week, the ‘wake n’ shake,’ and after school sporting activities that take place most nights, Clayton Brook pupils are not short of physical exercise.

Choice
A further inventive initiative the school is involved with is letting children make up their own minds about what are healthy choices to eat.

The school council, made up of several infant and junior school pupils, meet with head cook Anne Taylor on a regular basis to discuss menus and decide what they would like to see on the menu. Anne said: “Obviously we can’t make them come up with healthy ideas, but we are finding that more and more the children are discussing and choosing healthier options.

“I find that my job is much more satisfying, when I’m cooking healthy food, and it’s nicer to think that you’ve made the end product rather than just bringing something out of the freezer.”

Parent learning
During the end of last term, Anne lead a cookery course for eight mums who wanted to learn how to cook properly and healthily. The course took the parents back to the basics of cookery and every Friday afternoon they were taught a new, traditional recipe. Anne added: “The course was really, really successful. We wanted to teach parents the basics of healthy cooking so hopefully when they went home at night they could cook real, substantial dishes for their children.”

Anne is currently going into other schools nearby to encourage and promote the course and hopes to carry on with the course at Clayton Brook this term.

Play the slideshow below to see what happens at Clayton Brook primary at lunchtime.