You have been referred to us by a healthcare professional who thinks our team might be able to help you.

Our team is made up of medical specialists including specialist paediatricians, specialist paediatric dietitians, clinical psychologists, a social worker and a specialist nurse.

Hospital Passport

If you are a parent of a child with life-long disabilities you may need some additional support during hospital visits.

The aim of the Hospital Passport is to provide our staff with information about your child during a hospital visit. This information will help us work in partnership with you in meeting your child's needs when using our hospital services.  

Find out more about the Hospital Passport.

At the paediatric weight management clinic, we think about each individual and their family holistically, which means holding in mind your emotional and mental wellbeing, as well as your physical and dietary health. Below we expand on each of these areas and provide links to information that can further support you.

Mental health

Wellbeing and emotions are often linked to our relationship with food and eating. Emotional eating is an example of how mental health can play a role in your relationship with food. Emotional eating occurs when food is used to help manage tricky feelings such as sadness, anger or stress.

The psychologists in the team can explore these feelings with your young person and help you think about family patterns connected to eating or overeating, behaviour change, and goal setting.

If you are worried about your young person's mental health, contact your GP in the first instance to identify support you can access locally. 

View more information and useful links for supporting mental health and wellbeing.

Food

Making food and lifestyle changes can be challenging. The foods we eat are a very important part of weight management. Family shopping habits and meal choices can make it easier to make healthier choices. We have written this leaflet to help you think about what changes are possible and can be continued over time, plus useful hints and tips.

The internet also gives us access to some great resources that can help us make healthy choices as well as great recipes to try. View some of our favourites.

Activity and lifestyle

Children who are over the ideal weight for their age are likely to find physical activity more difficult. It is important to try and find things that your child likes to do to keep them engaged in being more active. Making small changes will help build their confidence to be more active.

All children aged 5 to 18 years old should take part in 60 minutes of activity each day.

All activities should make you breathe faster and feel warmer.

Younger children who can walk on their own should be physically active every day for at least 180 minutes (3 hours). This should be spread throughout the day, indoors or outside. View some activity ideas.

Information for young people

Please view links to resources and websites that you may find useful.

Information for parents

View some websites you may find useful while you wait for your child's first or follow-up appointments with the team.

 

 

Psychology

Our clinical psychologists are available to talk with you about different things which can affect our relationship with food, such as emotions, sensory likes and dislikes, and other things which can affect the times we eat and the choices we make such as boredom. It is important to understand family patterns connected to eating or overeating, helping families to work together to help one another make changes which help you move in the direction of your goals. We are also interested in your mental health and general wellbeing and can signpost or make referrals to other avenues of emotional or mental health support if appropriate.

Dietitians

Our dietitians work with children and their families who have a condition where nutrition and special diets can be used as treatment. We help families review their current lifestyle and make changes, especially around diet and activity to support a healthier weight.

Consultants

Our consultants investigate the overall health of children referred into our service. They will look into any possible causes and complications that are associated with excess weight. They work with the other team members to help families review their current lifestyles and make changes, especially around diet and activity to support transition to a healthier weight. They also decide whether medicines might be useful to achieve a healthier weight in the right circumstances and prescribe if considered likely to be helpful.

Specialist Nurse

Our nurse works alongside the multi-disciplinary team to support children and young people with advice and guidance while they work towards a healthier weight. This may include support and training on any medication that may be prescribed.

Social worker

Our social worker provides support and advice for children and their families on a wide range of issues which might include support with housing matters or help with travel costs for hospital visits. They can also link families into local support services and activities.

Patients

If you are a patient or a parent of a patient under our care, you can contact the department on 0117 342 6859. Please leave a message with your and your child's name, hospital number, contact number and the reason for your query. The messages are retrieved regularly and directed to the appropriate person.

The messages are dealt with Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. We aim to respond within two working days.

Changing your appointment

If you are unable to attend your appointment, please call 0117 342 7956 to cancel and rebook.

Health Professionals

Referrals to the paediatric weight management service can only be made by GPs or paediatricians.

How to find us

We run our paediatric weight management clinics on three different sites.

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children

Upper Maudlin Street,

Bristol

BS2 8BJ

View the hospital map.

Westgate House Children's Centre

Westgate House

Southmead Hospital

Bristol

BS10 5NB

View the hospital map.

South Bristol Community Hospital

Hengrove Promenade,

Bristol

BS14 0DE

View the hospital map.

You may be eligible for support with covering transport costs. For further information and how to apply, visit the NHS Healthcare Travel Cost scheme webpage. Please note the Trust's cashier is located in the BRI or alternatively you can claim by post.