References
Factors associated with young children being overweight on entry to primary school
Abstract
Childhood obesity is a serious public health challenge, and there is limited evidence to show which pre-school interventions may prevent its occurrence. This study assessed whether selected factors, including contact with the Starting Well 0–19 service for children aged 1–3 years in north-west England, influenced children's risk of being overweight at primary school entry. It found that families with the most contact with the service (an integrated health visitor and children's centre offer) were more at risk. The findings show that the focus of these contacts does not positively influence risk factors for later overweight prevalence. The study findings replicate a known association between deprivation and children being overweight. Families having the highest contact levels with the Starting Well service had a significant association with their children being overweight at entry to primary school. This provides an opportunity to target these families with healthy lifestyle interventions and reduce the potential risk of childhood obesity.
The UK government's vision for ensuring the best start in life for all stresses the importance of early experiences from conception throughout the first 1001 days of life. The key to improving child health focuses on early brain development and cognition, and mental, emotional and physical health. This includes reducing obesity by promoting healthy eating and physical activity (Darling et al, 2020; Department of Health and Social Care, 2021).
In 2018, Cheshire West and Chester local authority (CWaC) commissioned the Starting Well 0–19 service (CWaC, 2023). It is unique in combining the delivery of previously separate health and local authority programmes, such as Sure Start, the Healthy Child Programme and the UK National Childhood Measurement Programme (NCMP) (Bate and Foster, 2017; Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, 2022; 2023).
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