Healthy Place, Healthy Weight project in Wandsworth
Introduction
Childhood obesity is seen to be an increasing public health problem in the UK. This is a complex issue as unhealthy weight can be affected by a range of factors from environmental factors to lifestyle choices.
The project was funded by the GLA as part of their Healthy Place, Healthy Weight Mission which aims to put communities, particularly the most disadvantaged, at the heart of a whole systems approach to tackling obesity in their local area.
What we did
The Healthy Place, Healthy Weight Wandsworth project created an opportunity for various partners across the system to work together and share their personal and professional experience on the barriers that children and families face when trying to achieve a healthy weight, lifestyle, and a healthy relationship with their bodies. It gave a platform particularly and importantly to local residents to share their lived experiences and ideas.
This pilot has provided a framework for a wider whole systems approach that can be adopted across the borough and has demonstrated the successes and lessons learnt from this collaboration.
What people said
Finances and socioeconomic status
People spoke about how low income, coming from a poor background, or being a single parent, disabled, sick or chronically ill, can make it difficult to be able to make healthy lifestyle choices for yourself and your family.
Mental health and positive definitions of ‘healthy weight’
A wide range of attendees at the workshop, including young people and adults, said that having a positive sense of self is important to have a healthy lifestyle and a healthy relationship with your body.
Space
Many of the groups spoke about how where they live and the facilities and resources that are local to them influenced what kind of lifestyle choices families and children made.
Community
At the workshop attendees spoke about the need for initiatives that promote social ways to engage with healthy habits and that are culturally specific and tailored to different communities’ needs.
Education
Education was a key area of discussion as many of the groups in the workshop spoke about school meals and the need for opportunities to learn about healthy choices whether that is at school or in another type of learning format.
