NHS Lanarkshire cannot reach target to combat child obesity

Jan 7 2010 by david wynn

NHS Lanarkshire has admitted this week they will not meet a Scottish Government target to combat child obesity.

Figures published in their 2008/09 report show the health board will fall way short in delivering the number of “Child Healthy Weight Interventions” set out by Holyrood.

However, NHS Lanarkshire says it is “unlikely” any health board in the country will meet the target and insists they are doing all they can to tackle obesity in children.

Statistics published on the government’s own website support this claim as they show health boards across Scotland are facing a similar struggle.

The comments come as it was revealed that in Lanarkshire, around 15 per cent of pupils (6300) who started primary one in 2008 were overweight.

The total figure for five to 15-year-olds is around 16,000.

A Healthy Weight Intervention is when the health board, working alongside partners such as schools, GPs, councils and, most importantly, parents, identifies overweight children in primary one and provides support towards achieving a healthier lifestyle.

The SNP Scottish Government set a target in September 2008 for each health board to complete a certain number of interventions by April 2011.

The target for NHS Lanarkshire was 2263 and so far they have contacted the families of 1738 overweight children to invite them to participate in the programme. Almost 86 per cent didn’t respond and only 123 children have completed the course.

The health board points towards a number of societal issues in explaining the low figure, notably a lack of co-operation from parents who may be in denial about their child’s size.

An NHS Lanarkshire spokesman said: “All of the NHS boards in Scotland were given a target to complete interventions with 13.5 per cent of the overweight children in their area and three years to do so. However, this was from a standing start with no lead in or preparation time.

“NHS Lanarkshire will not meet the target of 2263 completed interventions by April 2011, however, it is unlikely any health board across Scotland will meet their target.

“NHS Lanarkshire were the first board to begin delivering interventions and subsequently we have put in place the necessary infrastructure to dramatically increase our delivery capacity.

“The 123 completed interventions placed NHS Lanarkshire second in Scotland in terms of completions and we are as well placed as any health board in making progress towards the target of 2263.

“The trajectory for Child Healthy Weight Intervention completions in NHS Lanarkshire is 1012 by April 2011. This represents an increase in both capacity and delivery over each of the three years of the target.

“Across Scotland, NHS Boards are encountering the same difficulties in identifying and recruiting families into the programme.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Obesity is one of the greatest challenges facing Scotland and poses a serious threat to health. Worryingly, one in six children are overweight or obese in Scotland and, if unchecked, that will rise to one in four by 2050.

“That is why the Scottish Government are making tackling obesity a high priority.”