Maternal and children’s healthy weight

Good health in the school years helps to maintain good health and well-being throughout life. It is important that children develop healthy habits about food and activity. Growing with appropriate weight gain helps to avoid obesity in later life.

Eating Well

It is important that children eat a healthy diet to ensure they get the nutrition they need to help them grow into healthy adults. Children who are a healthy weight are more self-confident, have a better ability to learn and are much less likely to have health problems later in life.

Breakfast is often called “the most important meal of the day”.

Eating breakfast gives us the energy we need until lunchtime, can help improve concentration at school, generally gets the day off to a good start and is something which 1 in 7 children in England and Ireland regularly go without.

For breakfast ideas visit the Change4Life website.

Children often eat the same sized portions as grown ups but when they eat more than their bodies need, it converts to stored fat in their bodies, so give portions that match your child’s age. Try making a fist. Look at the size of your child’s fist compared to yours. Not only are their fists, hands and feet smaller than yours, their stomach is too. So when you are serving up remember to give your kids smaller amounts of food than adults and it will still fill them up.

NHS Eatwell guide shows the different types of food we need to eat and in what proportions to have a well balanced and healthy diet. Eating healthily is about eating the right amount of food for your energy needs.

Fruit and vegetables are part of a balanced diet and can help us stay healthy. That’s why it so important that we get enough of them. That is five portions of fruit and veg altogether, not five portions of each.

Getting your 5 a day is easy. There are plenty of ways to add more fruit and vegetables to your everyday eating habits. Here are some ideas to get you started:

At breakfast, add fruit to cereal, porridge or lower-fat yoghurt.
Frozen fruit and veg count towards your 5 A DAY
Canned fruit and veg count too BUT choose fruit canned in juice rather than sugary syrup, and veg canned in water without added salt or sugar

All pupils in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 should be offered a free school meal. Existing entitlements for free school meals still apply.

North East Lincolnshire Council in partnership with Cygnet catering provides school meals.

The Healthy Hot School Meals Menu meets the national nutritional standards. These ensure that children are provided with a healthy, balanced diet.

Moving More

Physical activity helps children maintain a healthy weight. It also helps to develop strong bones and muscles. Children aged 5 to 18 years old should be active for 60 minutes every day.

For leisure activities in the area go to Lincs Inspire .

If you want activities the whole family can take part in together then Change4Life has some great games and ideas.

For more information on any of our initiatives use the contact details below.

Why your child’s weight matters

Children are getting heavier and that is bad news for their health, especially as they get older. Evidence shows that overweight children are likely to become overweight adults, with worsening health problems as they get older. In adults, being overweight is linked to type 2 diabetes, and increased risk of heart disease and certain cancers. But health is not the only issue. Overweight children could also be affected by:

teasing or bullying
low self-esteem
embarrassment when playing games or sports
difficulty in being active (for example, getting breathless quickly)
difficulties sleeping

Even if your child is not overweight or obese, it is important that they eat healthily and are physically active. One of the best ways to teach your children to eat well and move more is to do so yourself and as a family.

Weighing and measuring children

Every year as part of the National Child Measurement Programme children in Reception and Year 6 are weighed and measured at school by the School Nursing Service. This information is used by the local authority and Public Health England to plan and provide better health services for children.

Each parent is notified of the programme commencing and receives a letter outlining their child’s height and weight. You can find out what this means by entering the values in the NHS Choices Healthy Weight Calculator .

If you have concerns about your child’s weight please contact your family GP.