Kids, 12, sent to slimming clubs ... and YOU foot bill
OVERWEIGHT children are being sent to slimming clubs – paid for by the NHS.
In a radical response to Scotland’s obesity crisis, the health service is enrolling kids as young as 12 with commercial weight-loss organisations such as Slimming World.
Although the option has been available to older teenagers for some years, it has now been extended for the first time to youngsters who have barely finished primary.
The move – which has sparked a fierce debate about the best way to deal with the complex problems of obesity – highlights the worrying trend of young children becoming severely overweight.
Now one of the country’s biggest health boards has started to publicise the Weigh To Go scheme, aimed at helping obese youngsters between the ages of 12 and 18 lose weight.
Young people who sign up will be weighed by a nurse and given vouchers allowing them free access to the slimming club for up to 24 weeks.
They will be expected to attend a Slimming World meeting once a week – which typically costs £4.95, on top of a £10 membership fee – where they will be weighed and receive advice on healthy eating and exercise.
The NHS will also give youngsters a voucher allowing free access to Glasgow Club council-run gyms.
The Weigh To Go scheme was set up in 2013 by the British Heart Foundation, which funded treatment for teenagers from 16 to 18.
Last year the scheme was taken over by the NHS. Now NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC) has opened the scheme to children as young as 12.
Leaflets distributed in GP surgeries throughout the health board area say: ‘Are you 12 to 18 years old? Are you overweight? Do you want to lose weight? Then Weigh To Go is for you! Free Weight loss plan for up to 24 weeks and find out about physical activities near you.’
Last night experts welcomed the initiative but urged that it be carried out sensitively.
Tam Fry, spokesperson for the National Obesity Forum charity, said: ‘This is definitely a move in the right direction. The problem is that we have a substantial number of families who don’t understand food and depend on processed food like fish and chips and pies, because it is cheap and convenient. So obesity is a huge, huge problem.
‘I take my hat off to NHS Glasgow, because education at the earliest age, and in the right way, is key.
‘The whole thing is absolutely fraught with pitfalls and errors, but if it is done correctly and sensitively, it can only be a good thing.’
Others back the move but say the decision to enrol 12-year-olds highlights the growing obesity crisis.
Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Donald Cameron said: ‘The NHS should be encouraged to look at all options which encourage healthy living for young people. It’s also important these schemes are closely monitored to ensure they provide value for money.’
The scheme comes after a 2015 study revealed nearly one in three children in Scotland – 28.8 per cent – were at risk of being overweight, including 16 per cent who were at risk of being obese.
Children who want to sign up to the weight management programme must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 25. This is a measure of body fat based on an individual’s weight and height, where a healthy BMI ranges between 18.5 and 24.9.
They will be offered the chance to sign up to Slimming World – although previously applicants also had the choice of Weight Watchers and Scottish Slimmers.
WHAT a terrible indictment of our health as a nation. Children as young as 12 have begun receiving NHS-funded membership of slimming clubs.
We Scots cannot say we were not warned. There has been no lack of debate on heart disease, cancer and stroke rates; successive Scottish Governments have led campaigns to tackle smoking and excessive drinking.
Yet too many of us continue to make bad lifestyle choices that lead to illness and premature death.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is to invest considerable funds in this project. We await news of its success or otherwise.
But, while we’re open-minded about the decision to fund these slimming club places, we’re clear that it is the responsibility of parents to make the right decisions.
Food choices made on behalf of children have implications that can last a lifetime.