Scottish Government

CHILD HEALTHY WEIGHT INTERVENTIONS 2010/11

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Introduction

Attainment of the Scottish Government's Purpose of a flourishing economy requires a healthy population. Obesity poses a real risk to the health of the population in Scotland and its ability to meet its overarching purpose of sustainable economic growth because of the burden of disease that accompanies obesity.

Addressing rising levels of overweight and obesity is a priority for the Scottish Government. Childhood overweight and obesity present a particular challenge.

NHS Boards have developed plans to introduce child healthy weight interventions from 2008/09 onwards. Through their local delivery plans all NHS Boards committed to have this service in place by 2010/11. Final targets for completion rates from their H3 child healthy weight intervention programmes were confirmed with all NHS Boards as part of the 2010/11 local delivery plan sign-off process in Spring 2010.

This is the third publication of statistics reporting on child healthy weight interventions and shows the total number of interventions undertaken by NHS Boards between April 2008 and March 2011, compared to the target number for the same period.

The table below sets out the number of interventions carried out between 2008/09 and 2010/11 alongside the targets agreed with NHS Boards in Spring 2010.

Main Findings

- A total of 8,406 interventions were carried out between April 2008 and March 2011, 2,089 above the national target of 6,317 interventions over 3 years.

- All Health Boards exceeded their target number of interventions.

Table 1 Child Healthy Weight Interventions completed from 2008/09 to 2010/11

Methodology

The target (H3) - to achieve agreed completion rates for child healthy weight interventions by 2010/11 - covers a three year period beginning in 2008/09.

When the target was introduced in 2008 the Scottish Government issued guidance based on the available evidence which established criteria for what was considered to be an approved programme for healthy weight interventions. As this was a developmental target, Boards were given flexibility to introduce a programme, or range of programmes, of their choice as long as it met the criteria set out in these guidelines. Some Boards have introduced programmes which are not specifically targeted towards overweight or obese children, i.e. a whole class approach in educational settings. In these cases the number of reported interventions has been adjusted downwards, either based on the proportion of the class which might be expected to be overweight based on national survey data or, in some cases, Boards recorded the BMI of children taking part and have only included those who are overweight or obese. These adjustments are reflected in the table above.

Future Plans

A new HEAT target was introduced in April 2011 - To achieve agreed completion rates for child healthy weight intervention programme over the three years ending March 2014. A central data collection system is being developed for monitoring and evaluation purposes and this will be implemented during 2011/12. For the first year of the new target, Boards' performance will continue to be monitored via the quarterly returns to the Scottish Government until the new system is up and running.

Further Information

Although not classified as National Statistics these statistics are regarded as Official Statistics and, as such, are bound by the principles and protocols contained within the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

The measure above contributes to the Scottish Government's HEAT performance management system which sets out the targets and measures against which NHS Boards are publicly monitored and evaluated.

- HEAT target H3 - to achieve agreed completion rates for child healthy weight interventions by 2010/11

Useful Links

UK Statistics Authority, Code of Practice for Official Statistics -

http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html

Scottish Government NHSScotland Performance Targets (HEAT) -

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/scotPerforms/partnerstories/NHSScotlandperformance

Scottish Government Guidance on Healthy Weight Intervention Programmes -

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/83961/0059077.pdf

For further information, please contact:

Carrie Graham

Scottish Government

Health Analytical Services

email: Carrie.Graham@Scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Tel: 0131 244 2589