Leeds has become the first English city to report a decline in child obesity, research has shown.
Data from the National Child Measuring Programme (NCMP) – where children are weighed at the beginning and end of primary school – showed an overall reduction in child obesity in Leeds from 9.4% to 8.8% over four years.
It also showed the most significant improvement was made in the most deprived areas – the rate among children living in the poorest parts of Leeds dropped from 11.5% to 10.5%.
Overall, data shows 28% of 2- to 15-year-olds in England are obese – this figure stayed the same over the four-year period that Leeds showed a consistent drop in. So how did the northern city do it?
[Read More: Children’s weight is a difficult issue for parents to address: how to handle it sensitively]
Analysts are trying to figure out what Leeds – and a few other cities, like Amsterdam, whose “no fruit juice, no birthday cake” rule in schools made a big difference – are doing right.
One factor that may have been significantly involved was the Henry scheme, introduced in Leeds in 2009. Henry (short for Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young) is aimed at the poorest families of young children, providing guidance and support on matters like food, sleep and fitness.
The eight-week scheme is based around ‘authoritative parenting’ – as opposed to authoritarian or permissive – where children are offered choices within certain parameters. Instead of being told to eat their vegetables, they’ll be offered a choice of which vegetable to eat. Instead of being told to go to bed, they’ll be asked where they want to read their bedtime story. They’re making decisions, but within parent-set boundaries.
While Leeds’ success in reducing child obesity can’t be directly attributed to the scheme, participants seem impressed with it. One parent told the Guardian the scheme had helped her save money, lose weight and improve her children’s diet. “I think it made me a better parent,” she said. “I was able to share some of the ideas with my partner and, as a result, the kids became calmer and happier, which helped us feel less stressed, too.”
Studies in 2014 and 2016 showed participants in the Henry scheme were less stressed, engaged in more physical activity, ate more fruit and vegetables and enjoyed more meals together as a family. Add the city’s nation-defying move away from childhood obesity to that and there’s a fairly compelling argument to offer your child an exciting choice – which do you want, Junior? Broccoli or spinach?