New child weight management programme launches free to Lincolnshire families

Gloji Energy, which is being offered by the county’s healthy lifestyle provider One You Lincolnshire, is a 12-week programme fully funded by Lincolnshire County Council.

The programme is accessible to children aged 4-12 years old who have a BMI on or above the 91st Centile. Parents and carers can check their child’s BMI Centile here: https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/

There are both group and one to one sessions available, dependent on the needs of each individual family. Gloji Energy aims to create healthier children and families by supporting them to become more active and eat well.

Each session is one hour long and involves 45 minutes of physical activity for the children whilst the parents/carers learn about nutrition and healthy habits with a team of expert practitioners.

Parents/carers can expect to learn things including portion sizes, snacking habits, children’s nutritional requirements and so much more. During this time children engage in fun interactive sessions which include things such as trampolining, dance, martial arts, and dodgeball. In the remaining 15 minutes the family come together for an interactive activity such as basic cooking and food tasting.

Ongoing support is provided by a team of child weight management practitioners.

Programmes are running across the county in Lincoln, Boston, Grantham and Skegness. Gloji Energy will also start in Gainsborough and Mablethorpe in the new year, with other locations starting soon after.

Gloji Energy says that data from 2019/20 found that in Lincolnshire just over a quarter (25.6%) of reception age children and over a third (36.4%) of Year 6 children were overweight which, in both cases, was above the average for England as a whole.

“There is no more important task than helping children to be a healthy weight, especially at a time when household budgets are under pressure,” says Cloe Hubbard, Child Weight Management Lead at One You Lincolnshire.

“Gloji Energy offers exciting and engaging activities that motivate, support, and enable families to make changes to their lifestyle in a positive way. Together, we will review success and ensure each family is set up for the future, with resources to motivate and guide them to make healthy lifestyle changes, including recipe ideas and more.”

Initial responses from parents have been positive:

“It's been really, really helpful, more helpful than I thought to be honest [...] the kids are much more engaged and wanting to try new things.”

"The kids know that every week they get to jump on the trampolines; there's no way we could afford to do that if it wasn't for this programme.”

“We are very lucky to have this group available. My son really enjoyed it too (more than I expected). He’s been enthusiastic and did so much exercise yesterday. He has almost completed his “Activity Bingo”. We are both looking forward to the coming weeks.”

“This programme has not only helped my daughter, but it has helped me too, we are more conscious, and we support and help each other to be healthier.”

“My son is now helping me with the cooking. We now have to add at least one vegetable to the meal.”

For more information, visit www.oneyoulincolnshire.org.uk/pathway/eat-well-lose-weight-for-children