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.
