TACKLING OBESITY IN SCOTLAND – RECEPTION AT THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, 4th June 2008

On the evening of Wednesday 4th June the Children’s Weight Clinic and Slimming World sponsored a Parliamentary reception which was supported by the Cross Party Group on Obesity and hosted by Mary Scanlon MSP, Nigel Don MSP, Margaret Curran MSP and Jim Hume MSP.

Held in the Garden Lobby of the magnificent Scottish Parliament building the reception was well attended with around 100 people enjoying the evening. Directors of Public Health, Health Department officials, senior dietitians, voluntary bodies, University researchers and many others with an interest in obesity traveled to Edinburgh from all over Scotland.

Shona Robison MSP, Minister for Public Health opened proceedings by expressing the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling obesity in Scotland. Laura Stewart, from the Children’s Weight Clinic discussed the importance of ensuring that the Scottish Health Service undertook comprehensive training of staff to tackle childhood weight problems. An area that the CWC feels very strongly about.

Caryl Richards, Managing Director of Slimming World talked about the success the SW programme.

Parliamentary Reception

At the CWC we are committed to helping children, young people and families to promote a healthy family lifestyle and a healthy childhood weight. We do this in a number of ways - one of these is lobbying politicians to help ensure that the right services are available for families across Scotland.

The CWC have joined with Slimming World to sponsor a reception at the Scottish Parliament for the Cross Party Obesity Group on Wednesday 4th June 2008. Many of the leading people working in obesity from across Scotland have been invited to attend. This is an exciting event where discussions on the Scottish Government's policies on obesity can take place in an informal atmosphere.

The CWC

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Have the Scottish Government got it right?

The Health Department of the Scottish Government have told Health Boards in Scotland that they must have a treatment strategy for childhood overweight - yet they seem unsure what programmes should be used.

At the CWC we have developed comprehensive training programmes for the Scottish Health services and offered these to the Health Department. These include training on the use of our weight management programme (SCOTT) - the only published RCT from the UK in a peer reviewed journal. Along with this training we offer on going mentoring of the programme.

We believe that it is very important that Health Boards choose evidence based programmes and that they appreciate that one programme will not suit all. They need to ensure that health professionals have access to a number of innovative ways to help young people and their families develop a healthy lifestyle and weight.

The CWC

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The Winter Weight Worries

I love Christmas especially catching up with friends and family I have not seen for ages. For many of us this involves eating out or having fancy extras at home. So come the 3rd of January getting on the bathroom scales is an unpleasant experience. It is not surprising that new memberships for both gyms and slimming club increase in January every year!

And each year it seems harder to get back to that pre-Christmas weight. Did you know that the average weight gain for an adult over the festive season is 7lb (half a stone!), many children can put on 4-5 lb – I’ve know one child who put on 14lb over the 2 week Christmas holidays - and remember it is much harder for children to lose this extra weight.

So why not take a few moments this year before the Xmas partying season starts to consider how you and your family can avoid the post Christmas Santa tummy syndrome.

At the Children’s Weight Clinic we would like all families to have a great Christmas but we would also like to help families this Christmas be aware of just how much extra energy – which can so easily turn into extra weight - you and your children could be eating on the run up to Christmas and on the actual day.

This Christmas meal below would give the average adult their daily energy intake in one meal – think how many Xmas meals you may have had out on the run up to the day it’s self – and we have not included the alcohol.

Extra goodies such as crisps, nibbles, fancy biscuits and cake are often put out every time a guest arrives over the festive season. Think smaller amounts and think do we really need to eat this. Consider how many selection boxes your child eats before Christmas lunch. Just look at the amount of activity you need take to burn off 2000 calories.


Typical size selection box can range from 500 calories to over 1000 calories.

This typical Christmas day lunch menu contains around 2000 calories and 85g of fat.
Prawn cocktail
Turkey, stuffing kilted sausages
Roast potatoes, carrots,
Bread sauce
Christmas pudding, custard
Christmas cake, mince pie


Figures for meal based on averages and may vary depending on cooking methods and portion sizes.

How much physical activity is required to burn off 2000 calories is set out below

Walking briskly around 6 hours
Swimming around 4 hours
Cycling around 5 hours
Ice skating around 6 hours
Skiing around 2 hour


Activity figures are approximates and are based on averages and will be lower or higher depending on age, weight and level of intensity.


Here are the Children’s Weight Clinic’s top ten suggestions to avoid a winter weight worry -

Suggest to other family members and friends that only Santa should bring the kids a selection box this year
Agree with the kids that they will not eat all of the selection box on Christmas day
Ask family and friends to give the kids toys that promote activity and fun e.g. football, goalie gloves, skipping ropes
Go for a family walk on Christmas day
Give the kids Satsumas in their stockings from Santa
You cannot eat it if you don’t buy it – reduce the amount of food you buy
For a starter have home made vegetable soup
Only use low fat products in cooking
Have the Christmas cake or the mince pie - not both
Don’t eat the whole meal again on Boxing Day !!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Politicians taking weight seriously

Last week I attended a reception for Slimming World hosted in the House of Commons. Not only was it fun to visit Parliament but also to meet up with people who were so enthusiastic about managing weight and helping families to promote enduring healthy lifestyles.

Having politicians on side and ready to voice the need to have well funded weight management services and to ensure that all health staff have the appropriate training is very important. We at the Children's Weight Clinic have been talking to a number of MSPs about these very issues. We will continue to approach interested MSPs to forward our vision of a creative weight management strategy for Scotland.

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Worried about your families’ weight ?

Edinburgh’s Children’s Weight Clinic is always looking for new ways to help parents and families promote a healthy family lifestyle. We are delighted to announce our new classes for parents who are concerned about their family’s health.

The first class will be held on Thursday 24th January 2008 at 6.45 - 8.15 pm in St George's West Church, Shandwick Place, Edinburgh West End. The group will run each week for 8 weeks. (No group Thursday 14th February).

Places are limited so register now!

To book your place email - enquiries@childrensweightclinic.com or phone 07707878789

Classes are for adults only and are open to mums, dads, grandmothers, grandpas, aunts, uncle or even older brothers and sisters. At our classes you will have a chance to speak with one of the UK’s leading dietitians Laura Stewart who will expel the myths surrounding food labels and dieting as well as a number of other topical issues. You’ll also have the chance to meet with other parents who feel just the same way you do.

Sessions will be practical, enlightening and fun covering -
Present family lifestyle
Parents as the agents of change
Making successful family lifestyle changes
Healthy diet and good nutrition
Reading food labels and shopping
Menu and meal planning
Be more active as a family
Sharing successes and challenges
£10 registration and then £5 per evening. Or £40 for all 8 classes paid in advance.
Please bring a pen !

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Do you know what you are eating !

I read an interesting article in the Guardian newspaper last Saturday (10th November) about calorie creep in popular foods. Basically the article stated that the calorie content (energy) of a number of food products has increased over a number of years due to changes in manufacturing techniques.

For me this highlighted how difficult it can be for busy parents to know when they are giving their family the best products for their weight and eating lower energy foods .

To help parents with this issues at the Children's Weight Clinic we offer supermarket tours, discuss the 'ins and outs' of food labelling and the importance of being aware of portion sizes. These can all be complicated areas for many parents and we aim to demystify the subject.

Check out our website for information on the services we offer - www.childrensweightclinic.com

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