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Child health and weight

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A healthy body for a child is one that, whatever shape, size or weight, feels good, has enough energy and grows in a way that is right for them. This will let the child be active and participate in life.

Helping your child to eat well

Eating well for children means having a varied diet that helps them grow, gives them energy and helps them feel good.

A varied diet for children should include, on a daily basis, lots of unprocessed good quality foods. This is food in its most natural form for example fruit and vegetable, unprocessed proteins (fish, meats, eggs, nuts, seeds and pulses), wholegrain starchy foods and dairy foods.

Suggestions for a varied diet

  • Try to offer at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Try mixing a variety of vegetables into family meals e.g. mince and tatties, spaghetti bolognaise, stews, soups. Offer fruit with breakfast, as a second course or for snacks. Vegetable sticks e.g. carrots, cucumber, peppers make healthy snacks. Fruit and vegetables can be fresh, frozen or tinned.
  • Offer fish at least twice a week. This can be fresh or tinned fish.
  • Add beans and pulses to soups, curries, pasta dishes and stews.
  • Add seeds and nuts* to cereals and baking and for snacks. Many children like peanut butter on toast.
  • Offer eggs in salads, sandwiches and for light meals and snacks.
  • Limit processed foods e.g. chicken nuggets, fish fingers, cooked meats to 1-2 times a week.
  • Offer high fibre wholegrain foods.
  • Try cooking with rapeseed or olive oil.
  • Limit foods that are high in sugar and salt. Try to keep these foods to no more than once a day.
  • Offer good quality snacks e.g. fruit, vegetable sticks, cheese, eggs, nuts*, natural yoghurt, toast, breadsticks, and crackers.
  • Offer 6-8 glasses of water or sugar-free diluting juice.
  • Try not to label food as good or bad - try to use the terms every day and sometimes foods instead.

* Warning: do not give whole nuts to children under 5 as there is a choking risk.

Other advice

  • Try new foods and new recipes.
  • As a parent or carer eat good quality food. Children are likely to copy you.
  • Eat meals as a family when you can.
  • Enjoy an active lifestyle together with your child.
  • Allow your child to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.
  • Try to stick with a good mealtime routine with regular meals e.g. breakfast, lunch and dinner and only small nutritious snacks in between that keep children from getting too hungry.
  • Comfort children with attention, listening and hugs instead of food.
  • Create a non-distracting environment, separate eating from other activities.

Helping your child to enjoy being active

Enjoying moving our bodies and being physically active is hugely important for our health and wellbeing.

Physical activity doesn’t have to be an organised sport (although of course it can be); a lot of the time it is about having fun and moving our body. Active play of all kinds helps improve co-ordination, physical confidence and creativity, as well as physical fitness. Playing together as a family or with others improves communication and social confidence.

Look for opportunities to fit a bit more activity into everyday life.  Suggestions for fun things to do:

  • Get outside in the fresh air at your local park or anywhere else.
  • Make up games while you are outside, e.g. treasure hunts, hide and seek, tig.
  • Have a big dance party around the house!
  • As a parent or carer role model physical activity purely for enjoyment.
  • Make everyday journeys active by walking, wheeling, cycling, scooting or skipping…or however you like!
  • Remember anything is better than nothing, and a little bit more is better still.
  • Over time we can build up to the recommended levels of physical activity for birth-5 and 5-18.

Check out:

Services available

If you are worried about your child’s weight, health or relationship with food, you can find help here.

Argyll and Bute

You can refer yourself to the Nutrition and Dietetic service to find out more about the PEACH programme.

Highland

The X and Y programmes (below) are available to those living within the Highland HSCP area.

The X Programme

What is the X Programme?

The X Programme will help you and your family to make good choices about how to improve your health and wellbeing.

It is 8 online meetings with a group and your trained group leader. The course includes:

  • basic nutrition
  • building good relationships with food and your body
  • enjoying being physically active
  • helping children feel good about themselves

Who is the X Programme for?

The X Programme is for any child between ages 2 and 16 (or sometimes up to 18) who have a high BMI or would like a better relationship with food can go.

What happens at X?

You would be contacted by the group leader first and if appropriate, you will be offered a space on a course. Then you and your child would attend virtually (using a computer). This is a group intervention so other families might be there too.

You would attend 8 virtual sessions. These are interactive and should be fun for you and your family.

How to join

If you are under 12 years old, ask your parent or carer to fill in the form.  You will need their permission to join.

If the child that you are worried about is over 12 years old, you will need their permission to join.

Give as much information as you are able to.  This will help you to be offered the best programme for you.

More information

The Y Programme

What is the Y Programme?

Y is a programme that helps you and your family to make good choices about how to improve your health.  

Y will help you and your family to decide how to eat healthier foods, move more, sleep well, and feel better about your body shape.

Who is the Y Programme for?

Y is a bit more specific support than X and is not run as a group – it is just one person or family.

Y is for you if you are a child, teenager, or young person, and your weight is much higher than average for your height. 

Learn how to check your weight and height at home (pdf).

Learn more about BMI in children.

Y is also for you if you also have a medical condition, physical disability or are anxious or worried about your size or if you feel that you have been lonely or treated differently because of your size (or if you have tried to change your body shape or size by going on a diet.)

Y is also for you if you are a parent or carer who is worried about your child, teenager or young person, or the child, teenager young person that you care for, and they live in the Highland area.

What happens in Y?

You will be offered an appointment with a dietitian by video call (Near Me).  Sometimes this can be a phone appointment if you feel more comfortable speaking on the phone.

Your appointment will include just you, or you and your family and the dietitian, and not a group.

You will be sent instructions by post (or by email if you give us your email address) of how to join the video call with your dietitian.  You will need a smart phone or another device for video calls.

In your first appointment, you will talk to the dietitian about the programme and they will help you to decide if Y will work well for you.  

In following appointments, your dietitian will offer information that will help you and your family to decide if and how you can eat, move, think and feel differently, and you can talk to your dietitian about making a plan that will work for you.

How do I join Y?

  • You can ask your GP, another doctor or healthcare worker to fill in a form to refer you
  • OR phone the dietitians on 01463 705097 and a member of the team will fill in a form for you
  • OR you can download and fill in the referral form

If you are under 12 years old, ask your parent or carer to fill in the form.  You will need their permission to join Y.

If the child that you are worried about is over 12 years old, you will need their permission to join Y.

Give as much information as you are able to.  This will help us to offer you the programme that suits you best.

The PEACH Programme

Paediatric Eating and Activity Change for Health (PEACH) is a family-based lifestyle change programme.

The programme aims to support children and young people who are living at a higher body weight to make changes to their lifestyle through fun, interactive sessions and an app.

Before taking part in the programme, parents or guardians are invited to an assessment appointment with a specialist dietitian to discuss the programme in more detail and check it is suitable for the young person.

Read a PEACH Pogramme overview (pdf).

Free e-learning opportunities

Last updated: 10 September 2024

Next review date: 20 November 2024