Our Public Health Team are working to promote healthy weight in children, young people, and families. We want to support schools with initiatives aimed at healthy weight promotion and the prevention of unhealthy weight.
There are many ways to promote healthy weight. We appreciate schools know their children and families, and have their own ideas about what programmes to take forward. We we're asking you to tell us what programmes you want to run in your school; see government examples to help your school with promoting healthy weight in children, young people and families.
Further information about the Children's Healthy Weight Programme, and children's heath in York is available:
- Children's Healthy Weight Programme Fund
- Children's Healthy Weight Programme criteria
- Children's health and weight in York
- Public Health School Health and Wellbeing survey
Children's Healthy Weight Programme Fund
We want to assist as many schools as possible to develop their Children's Healthy Weight Programme by making funding available, and offering public health expertise and support.
We'll assess the levels of funding applied for against the number of Children's Healthy Weight Programme criteria schools expect their programme to meet.
Apply for the Children's Healthy Weight Programme Fund
Children's Healthy Weight programme criteria
There are some key themes that your school's Children's Healthy Weight Programme should cover; when you apply for funding you'll be asked to indicate how much of the criteria your programme will achieve.
It's not essential to meet all the criteria, but the more you're able to meet the more likely your programme will be funded.
The programme may:
- be aimed at healthy weight promotion of 5 to 12 year old children and their families
- be aimed at pupils and their families who have excess weight or are at risk of unhealthy weight
- be delivered in a school setting
- be within a school in a ward that is classed as 'deprived'or has a significant population of children living in those wards that attend your school (you can find this from your school survey results or NCMP data)
- be within a school which has a significant number of children noted as overweight or obese through the national child measurement programme results, or a significant rise in obesity from reception to year 6 measurement
- include children and families within the learning and delivery of your programme
- not be funded through other sources
- be linked to the school survey outcomes - addresses areas of concern
- use an evaluated or research-based programme methodology
- if already running, be in a position where it would need to cease due to funding
- be a brand-new initiative for your school
- be a bought-in programme run by a third party in your school
- predominantly use face-to-face delivery
- be a programme run over a whole year, for example, not a one-off delivery on a drop down day
- work with Public Health to consider working within the HENRY approach in your school
Children's health and weight in York
Childhood obesity has been described by Public Health England as one of the most serious public health challenges in the 21st Century. Currently in England more than 1 in 5 children are overweight or obese when they begin school, and 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school.
Being overweight can have serious implications for the physical and mental health of a child in the short and long-term.
York is in a fortunate position as overall obesity rates for children within the city are better than the England average, however we do see significant associations between obesity and deprivation, and therefore we know that there are inequalities across the city.
Rates of obesity appear to double between reception and Year 6 (Fingertips 2019/20).
The obesity rate amongst reception aged children in York is 7.6%.
The obesity rate amongst year 6 children in York is 22.1%, this been a significant rise.
A recent analysis found in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 'Starting and Growing Well' noted that the prevalence of obesity was highest in our most deprived wards. Children living in deprived wards were twice as likely to be obese at reception as those living in the least deprived wards.
Public Health School Health and Wellbeing survey
The Public Health School Health and Wellbeing survey was conducted in York during the autumn term 2021.
In total 4,269 children from across 37 schools took part, which represents 67% of all the children in the selected year groups.
The survey provides insight into children’s physical activity levels, healthy eating habits, and feelings in relation to body image.
The survey found:
- 40% of pupils said that they spend 90 minutes or more per day doing active things, such as includes sport, playing outside and walking
- girls (34%) and pupils receiving free school meals (30%) were less likely to achieve 90 minutes of physically activity in a normal day
- 77% of pupils spend more than 90 minutes using a screen each day
- nearly a fifth of pupils say that they find it very hard to get to sleep, with 13% saying that they have difficulty getting to sleep every night
- 25% of pupils reported having a high caffeine energy drink the day before the survey
- nearly 50% of pupils reported achieving their 5 a day - children receiving free school meals were less likely to achieve their 5 a day
- 34% of pupils said that they would like to lose weight
- 29% of pupils said that they would like to feel healthier
- 37% of pupils said that they would like to be fitter