Funding to address childhood obesity

Eight projects working with young families to encourage good nutrition are being allocated funding by the Scottish Government as early intervention to reduce childhood obesity.

Among the initiatives is the Greater Glasgow and Clyde project ‘Thrive Under 5’ which will receive £269,344 towards a community food nurturing programme to help families of pre-school children in Glasgow’s most deprived areas with food insecurity, healthy eating and physical activity.

The funding is part of the Scottish Government’s aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce diet-related health inequalities.

Public Health Minister Maree Todd said:

“Addressing obesity remains a public health priority and we want children and families to have access to appropriate support to give everyone the best start in life no matter where they live.

“We know that diet impacts on children’s health and development and will therefore continue to support local partners to develop these ambitious and effective plans to help prevent and reduce childhood obesity. Our 2021-22 Programme for Government sets out our focus on improving the health of young people by taking forward the actions in our Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan.

“These projects, alongside our Best Start Foods payment and Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme Milk are central to our commitment to ensure everyone in Scotland has access to healthy, nutritious food. We have also introduced the Good Food Nation Bill to help ensure good quality, locally sourced and produced food is a practical everyday reality for everyone.”

Health Improvement Lead at Glasgow City Health & Social Care Partnership Siobhan Boyle said:

“We are delighted to receive year two Scottish Government funding for the Thrive Under 5 Project.  This project is an exciting pre-5 early intervention project that aims to enable a healthy weight in the early years through a child poverty lens. 

“This programme will directly benefit families in the Thrive Under 5 neighbourhoods by combining a suite of healthy lifestyle supports in relation to financial inclusion, food insecurity, healthy eating and physical activity.

“A local Thrive Under 5 network in each area will drive the project forward in partnership with local people.  We are looking forward to seeing the positive difference that this project will make.”

Background

As well as Thrive Under Five in Glasgow, other projects to receive funding are: Jump Start Tots in NHS Ayrshire and Arran, the HENRY Train the Trainer model in NHS Fife, NHS Lothian and NHS Grampian, an extension to the HENRY programme in NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles, and Little n Lively in NHS Lanarkshire,

The Scottish Government published the Diet and Healthy Weight Delivery Plan in July 2018 and the Programme for Government 2021-22 in September 2021.