Tackling childhood obesity
Fit and fun
A new project is linking schools and leisure centres to tackle childhood obesity, without stigmatising pupils. Education Today catches up with Julie Hilditch, Health and Physical Activity Development Officer at OCL, to find out more.
K
ids can be cruel, especially when it comes to weight issues, but a new project in Oldham, Greater Manchester, is tackling childhood obesity without children feeling as though they’re being ‘singled out’. And it seems to be working. After just a year, The Kids’ Zone project has already helped 64.6 per cent of children on the scheme to stabilise their BMI and 25 per cent to actually lower it.
Like many urban areas, Oldham faces a spiralling crisis of obesity. Nearly one in five children aged 10-11 in Oldham are obese and, if the current trend continues, two thirds of children will be obese by 2050. Strikingly, the number of children who are of a healthy weight is 10 per cent lower in Year 6 compared to Reception age children. The OCL Kids’ Zone Junior Exercise Referral Scheme project is run by Oldham Community Leisure (OCL) – a registered society responsible for the management, operation and development of 12 sports centres, swimming pools and synthetic pitches in Oldham. It is funded by the Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group’s Dragons’ Den project, an initiative set up to encourage innovative projects to improve health in the local community. Launched in April 2014, the project initially invited every Reception and Year Six child who took part in the National Child Measurement Scheme and had a BMI of ‘very overweight’ to join the OCL Kids’ Zone Junior Exercise Referral Scheme.
“This entitled them to access to a selection of activity courses and sessions at our venues, including swimming, trampolining, diving, gymnastics, badminton, climbing and football, as
16
www.education-today.co.uk
well as a free or discounted junior membership,” explains Julie Hilditch, Health and Physical Activity Development Officer (Dragon’s Den) at OCL. “The children on the scheme are reviewed on a three- monthly basis and, at these reviews, we work with the child and their family to establish what challenges for improvement they will work on next. I also personally hold one-to-one sessions with children and their families to teach them about healthy eating.”
For many of these types of scheme, one of the biggest barriers to uptake is stigmatisation. The Kids’ Zone project has tackled this by placing a great deal of emphasis on inclusivity. “All children on the scheme are encourage to choose their favourite activities, which helps to inspire their participation and therefore increase their attendance, and so their activity levels – and ultimately improve their BMI. Because the scheme’s sessions are integrated into normal lessons- they’re not ‘special’ classes – children on the scheme don’t feel singled out in any way. No one needs to know why they’re attending and this helps them to feel part of the group, join in and get the most from whatever sessions they’re participating in,” explains Julie.
March 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44