24 November 2009 - After intensive preparation, ECOTEC's much anticipated Childhood Obesity Seminar was well received. The event took place on the 11th of November at the Kings Fund in London, and was attended by 35 delegates.

The seminar, funded through the ECORYS Research Programme, involved presentations by three speakers on obesity prevention programmes and approaches. The event was chaired by Chris Walker, Director of Social Policy at ECOTEC and a panel of two experts: Professor Carolyn Summerbell, professor of human nutrition at the University of Durham (UK) and Dr Wija Oortwijn of ECORYS Netherlands who facilitated debate throughout the day.
 
The first presentation was by Dr Raheelah Ahmad from the London Teaching Public Health Network who outlined the London-based CHALK programme. This is a Department of Health (UK)-funded project that was first piloted in London and is now being implemented more widely. CHALK aims to build local capacity to address unhealthy weight in children of 4-7 years. The project encourages health and wellbeing in both children and their parents and aims to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into family life.
 
Professor Remy Hirasing and Dr Carry Renders gave the second presentation, both speakers flying in from the Netherlands to give a European perspective to the seminar. Their presentation concentrated on MasterPlan Overweight, a Dutch initiative concerning the on-going national monitoring of children’s weight and waist ratio. Professor Remy left the seminar with the astounding fact that you would have to run a marathon to burn off the calories consumed from a Big Mac Meal.
 
Alison Hardy from the Department of Health's Communications Team gave the final presentation. Alison outlined the social marketing campaign Change4Life. Change4Life is a recent government-funded project that aims to raise awareness of healthy living for families in the UK in a mainstream and accessible manner. Alison highlighted the positive role the programme can play in addressing the issue with parents. With evidence suggesting that only 5% of parents in the UK think that their children are obese, the Change4Life programme offers a way for teachers, doctors and professionals to support families in making positive changes to their lifestyle. 
 
The seminar at the Kings Fund ended in some lively debate and reflection on the wide range of initiatives that are in place and discussion around the lack of evidence for effectiveness and cost effectiveness. Some useful comparisons were drawn between the UK and the Netherlands. After a successful day, ECOTEC would like to say a big thank you to all those involved who supported the project.
 
To view the agenda and presentations from the day:

• Seminar brochure, including the agenda
• Seminar presentation by Raheelah Ahmad
• Seminar presentation by Alison Hardy
• Seminar presentation by Professor Hirasing and Dr Renders

For further information on the Childhood Obesity Seminar, please visit the seminar website or contact:

Nicola Smith
E This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it