Minutes:
The Board received a report and presentation from Stephanie Dagger, and Joanne McCarrick, Alive ‘N’ Kicking Halton & St Helens on a teenage healthy weight management programme for all young people aged 14 – 19 years of age. Two young people, Callum Clarke and Jessica Jones also attended the Board to talk about their experiences of the service.
The Board was advised that the programme had been in operation since March 2012 and was designed and delivered by the Weight Management Centre, whose aim was to improve the health of the whole Borough.
The Board was further advised that it provided
families with the information, skills and services needed to make healthier food
choices and increase physical activity levels.
The experienced team offered support and advice to maintain a healthy
weight as well as encouragement to try out new activities.
It was reported that the service was based at the Stobart Stadium. The
free 6 week programme, had been designed to provide the young people with the
information to make healthier food choices and increase physical activity
levels to lead a healthier lifestyle. In
addition, it was also reported that the programme was
run across venues within Halton.
The presentation:-
· Explained the
Alive ‘N’ Kicking Programme and outlined the weekly
topics;
· Explained the
venues and programmes;
· Highlighted the
increase in the number of referrals that had been received in year two (746) in
comparison to year one (378);
· Detailed the
referral routes to access the programmes and
highlighted that over the two years St Helens had received 557 referrals and
Halton had received 567 referrals;
· Outlined that
over the two years, 362 overweight and obese young people had started a programme, with 293 completing, which represented 81% of
young people completing a course;
· Detailed the
anthropometric results and follow up actions;
· Outlined the behaviour change results and detailed the feedback and
satisfaction; i.e. out of 72% of 857 young people, 98% scored the service as
5*.
Callum Clarke reported that he was 14 years of age and a carer and sometimes he would eat unhealthy meals. However, since learning all about food on the
programme, he had been shocked to find out how
unhealthy some foods were. He added, that the programme had
helped him to eat healthier and he had lost a stone in weight. Since starting the programme
he had also started to cycle to school, play football, walk the dog and
exercise at home. Initially he had been
worried that he would not fit in and had very little confidence because of his
size. Callum
reported that the programme had also enabled him to
be more confident and he was much happier.
He attended the drop in sessions and acted as a mentor to other young
people. In conclusion, he reported that
he had made lots of new friends and worked hard with his personal trainer.
Jessica Jones reported that she was 14 years of age and had started the programme six months ago. She added that she had been referred via her GP because of health problems. Initially, she wasn’t very enthusiastic about the programme as she thought that she would get bullied and her self esteem had been very low. However, the programme had taught her all about food and nutrition and she had managed to lose a lot of weight and her self esteem had improved. Jessica reported that she had made lots of new friends and that she also mentored young people who were new to the programme. In conclusion, she reported that she goes every week to maintain the exercise and would continue to do so as it was helping her to maintain her weight and she felt better as a result of the weight loss. She reported that she would stay at Alive N Kicking until she wasn’t allowed to go anymore as she loved it.
The Board congratulated the young
people on their excellent presentations and thanked them for taking the time to
come to speak to the Members about their experiences of the programme. The Members commented that the two young
people were amazing and highlighted that their experiences represented a
powerful message to other young people.
The following comments arose from the
presentation:-
· It was noted
that information on the service was via flyers, leaflets in public places,
schools colleges and word of mouth.
Visits were also undertaken to GP surgeries and youth clubs and the
service worked closely with the youth service;
· It was suggested
that as the funding for the service would cease in March 2013, discussions
could take place with representatives from the Clinical Commissioning Group and
The Director of Public Health who were present at the meeting;
· Clarity was
sought on what information was passed to the parents. In response, it was reported that when the young
people had their consultation parents were given information packs of the full
six week programme.
They were able to ask questions and sometimes a friend or a parent would
attend the programme for support;
· Clarity was sought
on whether the programme could be extended to younger
people. In response, it was reported that
Fit for Life covered young people up to the age of thirteen. However, the two programmes
crossed over in Year 9. The programme delivered an holistic
approach and young people could be taken out of class and given the opportunity
to raise issues with them. In addition,
it was reported that if necessary some young people would be referred to other
agencies i.e. CAMMS;
· It was noted
that the service did not undertake any work with teenage mums. However, it was an area that could be looked
into and some young mums attended the college and could access the programme via that route; and
· It was
reported that if the Programme Manager emailed information
on the service to the Director of Children and Enterprise, this would be
circulated to all schools in Halton.
RESOLVED
That:
(1)
The presentation be received and the report and comments raised
noted; and
(2)
Stephanie Dagger, Joanne McCarrick,
Callum Clarke and Jessica Jones be
thanked for their informative presentation.
Supporting documents: