Helping children and young people to develop healthy habits around food and physical activity
- Helping children to develop a healthy weight and healthy lifestyles is a key public health priority.
- Children who are a healthy weight are more likely to have good physical and mental health and wellbeing, as well as better levels of self-esteem and sleep. They also have better educational outcomes, lower levels of absence from school, and are less likely to experience bullying.
- Children who are a healthy weight are also less likely to grow up to be overweight adults, and therefore have less chance of developing poor health or diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
- Below are a number of resources, links and information that can help professionals with promoting healthy eating and healthy weight with children, young people and families.
Local Healthy Weight Services for Children, Young People and Families
Healthy Families is a free healthy living service for families across North Yorkshire.
The service helps families remotely (virtually) over a number of months to make small changes to their lifestyles, all from the comfort of their homes.
It also signposts families to physical activity and leisure opportunities in their local area and provides information on other useful topics and support such as mental health and wellbeing, sleep, and help with the cost of living.
The service is for children and young people aged 4-19 years (up to aged 25 years for those with SEND) who would like some help with healthy weight and lifestyles. Families must be a resident or registered with a GP practice or school in North Yorkshire.
Families can self-refer (or professionals can refer them) by:
- emailing active.health@brimhamsactive.co.uk
- calling the team on 01423 556106
For more information please visit: Healthy families – Brimhams Active
Useful Information:
- discover handy tips on managing children's weight on the NHS Healthier Families website
- Ideas for a healthy packed lunch: Healthy-Packed-Lunch-leaflet.pdf (healthyschoolsnorthyorks.org)
- Free e-learning for professionals: Home - Using the resource ‘Talking to your child about weight’ (bath.ac.uk)
- Our Healthy weight & oral health resource bank contains lots of resources for families and professionals and can be found here: Healthy Eating and Healthy Weight > Healthy Schools North Yorkshire
- ideas on looking after your mental health and wellbeing on the GoTo website
- information about getting active with North Yorkshire Sport
- get help with the cost of living