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FEATURE FOCUS: TACKLING CHILDHOOD OBESITY Picture: Paul Watt Photography


The time for action is now!


be overweight adults which can lead to a range of health problems (Singh et, al. 2008). Research shows that children at a healthy weight tend to be fitter, healthier and confident (Brown et, al. 2019). At YDance (Scottish Youth Dance), the national


dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland, we aim to work through key partnerships in education, culture, health and sport to provide high quality dance experiences for all children and young people in Scotland. Our vision is to provide opportunities for every


child and young person in Scotland to realise their potential as individuals through dance. All our programmes are designed to achieve positive outcomes for young people across the country, to improve their mental and physical health, wellbeing and aspiration. Through dance we want to give young people the confidence and belief in themselves to succeed. YDance has been working to achieve some of


I


n our third feature focus piece this month looking at how we as a society can tackle


childhood obesity, we hear from Linzi McLagan, Head of Education at YDance, the national dance organisation for children and young people in Scotland, who outlines the ways her organisation has been using dance to improve young people’s mental and physical health, wellbeing and aspiration.


In every cultural movement there is a critical point where the social norm needs to be challenged. We are creatures of habit. Inactive and overweight children are more likely to grow up to


the aims of Scotland’s Physical Activity Strategy since 2005 and have delivered three effective programmes of work addressing the need to improve levels of physical activity and active learning amongst children and young people in Scotland. YDance has worked in partnership to provide dance programmes which target a range of young people to enable a cascade effect and increase the reach of physical activity dance provision.


The challenge and the need The Scottish Government’s Physical Activity Strategy identified teenage girls as a group at high risk of non-participation in physical activity, and potentially of obesity and general health


32 www.education-today.co.uk


problems. Girls in their teenage years, after moving to secondary school, were more likely than boys to opt out of PE and competitive sports, however interventions such as dance have proven to be positive motivators for them. Some examples highlighting this are detailed below: In 2008, the Health Department through NHS


Health Scotland supported YDance to deliver, Free to Dance (2008 – 2012), a three-year programme targeted at increasing physical activity levels amongst inactive teenage girls in Ayrshire, Glasgow and Orkney. The flexible tailor-made programme provided dance sessions in a variety of styles from Street dance to Lindy Hop, all with the aim of building confidence, motivation and self–esteem as well as developing creative and core skills such as team-work and communication. In 2012, responsibility for implementing the


Physical Activity Strategy within the Scottish Government passed to the Sport Division and came under the remit of Sportscotland. A new programme of work, YDance Active (2012 – 2017), was devised and designed to inspire and motivate teenage girls across Scotland to be more physically active through dance. Part of the Active Girls initiative, working alongside 2 other projects – Girls on the Move (Youth Scotland) and Fit for Girls (Youth Sport Trust), YDance Active was delivered in partnership with 28 Local Authorities through the Active Schools network. Over the 5 years of delivery, the project worked with 12,000 teenage girls and over 2000 girls gained an Award in Dance Leadership at levels 1 and 2. The project also provided training for over 400 school and local authority staff to support the young dance leaders to work with other girls and


April 2021


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