Fit Together Project

Rachel ShawHealthy Living Network Leeds

Barca Leeds

Fit Together programmes

• 3 year funded family health programme, primarily aimed at reducing childhood obesity in West Leeds

• Focus on changing lifestyle behaviours to impact on long term lifestyle changes

• Families attend a 2 hour session once a week for 6 weeks

• Sessions are run by Community Health Educators through a peer education approach

HLN Leeds

• Established in 2004

• Based in Armley

• Several contracts with Public Health and NHS

• Part of Barca Leeds

Target groups

• New families, starting Primary School starting secondary school

• These groups are all in stages of transition

• Ideal opportunity to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviours

• Ties in with National Child Measurement Programme in schools

What are we dealing with? • 94.8% in Reception and 91.0% in Year 6 were measured • 1 in 10 children in Reception is obese (9.3%, 794 children). This figure is static for all years the programme has run in Leeds. • 1 in 5 children in Year 6 is obese (19.7%, 1,374 children)

• As in previous years more children from ‘Deprived Leeds’ are obese than those from ‘Non-deprived Leeds’ and this gap has widened over the period of the NCMP..

Outcomes of Fit Together

• Increase positive attitudes towards food and a healthier lifestyle through gaining knowledge and supporting each other to make those small changes to reduce obesity levels

• Increased self esteem and confidence through involvement in passing health messages to others, giving and receiving support and volunteering within the project and their own community

Outcomes cont.

• Improved skills and knowledge about how to enjoy and make the most of their life through learning new ideas at training sessions and sharing their own skills within their communities.

• Improved integration between existing services to provide a holistic family centred approach to support family health

What do we do?

Feedback

• “One of the biggest things we have learnt is about sensible swaps”

• “I had no idea how much sugar was in drinks! We have cut out the Coke!”

• “I am usually shy around new people but on the course I was starting to open up”

Challenges• Finances• Delivery area• Mentor families• Volunteering• Evaluation• Dissemination

Solutions• Finances: Meeting at Grants hub and adapting

budgets for realistic delivery

• Delivery area: revisiting Yr 1&2 areas and working with GATE

• Mentor families: reunion workshops and wider volunteer opportunities within Barca

Solutions cont.

• Volunteering: increased hours to support volunteering activity and adapting parameters around volunteer involvement

• Evaluation: support from Leeds Met

• Dissemination: support from Leeds Met, increased social media activity, wider partnership activities, influencing future projects

Contact details

Rachel Shaw, Project Coordinator

Rachel.hln@barca-leeds.org 0113 2951043

Unit 4 Armley Park Court, Armley, Leeds,

LS12 2AE