Regional partners unite to tackle obesity and excess weight in children

Professor Keith Godfrey is supporting a new initiative to help children in Dorset stay a healthy weight.

Academics and healthcare professionals across Wessex are working together to reduce obesity and excess weight.

It builds on pioneering research and practice already underway in Southampton.

‘Enormous’ benefits

In Dorset, 22% of children starting school, aged four to five years, are overweight or living with obesity. By the end of primary school, at age 10 to 11, this figure rises to 32%. Obesity in reception children is not decreasing and remains in line with pre-pandemic levels.

These high prevalences have important consequences for individuals, society and the healthcare system. The issue is being treated as a top priority by health planners in the region.

Obesity and excess weight in children can lead to other health conditions, and are linked to asthma, early puberty, diabetes and some cancers. They can also cause anxiety, poor self-esteem and eating disorders. If they continue to live with obesity in adulthood, these individuals will have a lower life expectancy.

Professor Keith Godfrey, Theme Lead for Nutrition, Lifestyle and Metabolism at the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, is supporting the initiative. He is drawing on his research understanding the causes of obesity in children and his experience running programmes at LifeLab aimed at tackling childhood obesity.

LifeLab enables children and young people to learn first-hand the science behind the health messages. This means they can really understand the ‘why’ of healthy lifestyle changes.

Professor Godfrey said: “Dorset is leading the way in its commitment to reducing the high levels of overweight in children. This will require policies that bring together those in the education, cultural, healthcare and local government sectors to promote diets of high quality, physical activity and healthy sleep habits. The challenge is not an easy one, but the benefits for health, wellbeing and economic prosperity in the county are enormous.”

Collaborative effort

The initiative brings together academics and healthcare professionals across the region, with funding from Wessex Health Partners.

Christine McGrath, Managing Director of Wessex Health Partners, said: “We were keen to fund this initiative because it is such an excellent example of forming a new collaborative to tackle a pressing health issue. The new group will be well placed to apply for bigger funding – and this attracts inward investment into the Wessex area.”

It is being led by NHS Dorset and Health Innovation Wessex. The aim is to learn from pioneering research and practice already underway in Southampton, and implement this in a way that works for people in Dorset.

Heather Stacey, Senior Programme Manager at Health Innovation Wessex, said: “In Dorset, we really want to take an approach based on what’s already working elsewhere. We need to understand that children and young people often don’t have a lot of choice in this area. For them, losing weight isn’t as simple as eating less and moving more.”

Tess Green, Senior Project Manager at NHS Dorset, said: “This is about children’s life chances, and it’s such an important issue to take forward. The impact of obesity on adults is immense, leading to life-long conditions. We need to get the messages right about healthy nutrition and looking after yourself, and how this affects you personally.”

Image credit: World Obesity Federation