Weight Management

Get Going (Tier 2) is our 9 week group intervention programme for families, with a mix of fun games, education and physical activity.  There are also follow up sessions at 3, 6 and 9 months after the initial 9 week group programme.

One to one Child Healthy Weight Dietetic clinics are also available (Tier 3) for families needing additional support or those with complex needs or social situations. Dietitians can liaise directly with CHW Clinical Psychology for emotional wellbeing support the family, child/young person may need. 

Who to refer:

• Aged  <18 years old
• Children under the age of 2 years should be referred in the first instance to paediatric endocrinology to exclude an underlying cause for overweight
• BMI ≥ 91^st centile centile calculator
• Child and parent/carer ready and willing to make positive lifestyle changes

Who not to refer:

• Children or families who require alternative  support prior to being ready to attend our service e.g. for severe food phobias, complex social issues, complex mental health issues that may be exacerbated by engaging in a weight management service

Please note ALL referrals will be triaged at a single, central point by Specialist Dietitians in the Child Healthy Weight Service. Your referral may indicate a specific tier of the service and whilst this will be taken into account, the Specialist Dietitians will determine the best referral route for the family. If you wish to discuss a referral prior to sending, please contact us at the details below. 

How to refer:

• SCI-GW >> AHP Dietetics >> Paediatric Weight Management >> LI Weight Management – Paediac
• Professional referral form Child Healthy Weight Professional Referral Form v1.0.docx
• Self Referral Form Child Healthy Weight Self Referral Form v1.0.pdf

Contact details

These contact details are for professional, patients and parents/carers.

Email: loth.childhealthyweight@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

Phone: 0131 537 9169

Address: Woodlands House, Astley Ainslie Hospital, 74 Canaan Lane, Edinburgh, EH9 2TB

Additional information regarding Get Going

Figure 3

Get Going Programme Structure	​	​	​	​
What does Get Going involve?	An initial one-to-one appointment with a trained Get Going Coach	Six group sessions involving four to eight families, each delivered by a team of two coaches.  Group sessions are fun and interactive. They include a discussion followed by a physical activity session for the children while parents continue to share ideas and experiences	A second one-to-one with their coach in week eight, where they will establish a plan to maintain their healthy lifestyle	On completion of Get Going, families are offered support to stay active, through discounted access to local leisure facilities, and invited to a further one-to-one at three and six months to discuss their progress.  Some families will be given the option of ongoing support from clinical dietetics if required

Figure 4

Week	Family discussion topic	Parent discussion topic
1	Traffic light eating scheme	Positive parenting, portion sizes
2	Physical activity & screen time	Increasing family activity
3	Environmental/stimulus control	Changing the environment, shopping, food labels
4	Eating outside the home	School lunches, lunch boxes, eating out
5	Tricky situations, problem solving	How parents can help with planning & problem solving
6	Revisiting healthy eating advise	Long term targets

Additional information for health professionals

Recommended suggestions for families to support them to achieve a healthy weight for their child:

• Physical activity makes you feel good, as well as helping you to achieve a healthy weight – aim for at least an hour a day for children aged 5 years and over (and three hours of physically active time for the under 5s)
• Be more active as a family, by walking or cycling to school, going to the park or swimming.  Have a look at Active Scotland to find activities near you
• Encourage your child to spend less time in front of the TV or computer
• Food should be enjoyable – try to eat together as a family when you can, without distractions like TV
• The Eatwell website has some great ideas about eating well for children – remember breakfast and your five fruit and vegetables every day
• Encourage parents and carers to comfort their children with attention, listening and hugs instead of food
• Encourage parents to use words like “healthy weight” and “healthier eating” rather than “losing weight” and “diet”.

 Advise parents to avoid:

• Classifying foods as “good” or “bad”
• Using words like “greedy” or “lazy”
• Moaning about their own weight and how boring being on a diet is
• Commenting negatively about other people (friends, family, celebrities who are overweight)
• Scaring a child into trying to lose weight

Publications:

NHS Health Scotland has produced a series of publications for the public and health professionals which tackles the issue of child healthy weight.

The PDFs in this section are BMI charts for boys and girls, a resource for parents and a resource for health professionals with information about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Printed versions of these resources can also be accessed from the Get Going administrator: Get.Going@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk. 

HappyHealthyKidsParentsBook.pdf

HealthyHappyKids_ProfessionalsResource.pdf

If you require publications or documents in an alternative format such as large print, Braille and audio versions, please contact Health Scotland publications:

nhs.healthscotland-alternativeformats@nhs.net.

Also encourage families to have a look at:

• Take Life On
• Healthy Eating for Children – Factsheet
• Diet, Behaviour and Learning in Children – Factsheet

If the child has an ASD diagnosis, consider the following link:Eating Problems and Autism Spectrum Disorder – Factsheet

For more links to relevant sites see SIGN Guidelines, 115, page 52

Management of Obesity: National Guideline – SIGN 115