The Healthy Lives Team

The Healthy Lives Team works with all school staff, pupils, parents, and governors. We aim to support, encourage and enable children’s health and wellbeing.

What do we offer help with?

healthy eating
oral health
physical activity
mental health and resilience
personal social health education
active travel to school

We make sure schools focus on safeguarding. We also seek to protect young people from risk taking behaviours at all possible times.

Who do we work with?

the council’s Public Health team
Public Health England
the Department for Education
the Greater London Assembly
Tower Hamlets Education Partnership
West Ham Football Club
The Daily Mile Foundation
London Marathon Events

Tower Hamlets is the top performing borough in London for the Mayor of London’s Healthy Schools London awards. We have more Gold, Silver and Bronze Healthy Schools awards than any other London borough.

Healthy Schools in Tower Hamlets

See how we give vital support to schools, pupils and parents. We work with them all to tackle and reduce obesity and other health inequalities.

We also increase mental health and emotional resilience to drive academic achievement.

Contact us

If you would like further support or details, please contact Kate Smith, Head of Healthy Lives, at kate.smith@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Physical activity

The Daily Mile

We have supported over 60% of Tower Hamlets schools to start The Daily Mile.

Find out how Clara Grant Primary School use it to raise the whole school community's physical activity levels.

Healthy eating

Change4life provides several healthy eating resources for parents to use at home.

These include:

Easy follow recipes to feed a family of 4 for around £5.
More quick and easy family meal recipes. Find 30 flexible dinner ideas with step-by-step instructions parents and families can follow.
Facts about Sugar to support parents and families reduce their sugar intake. As well as information on the effects of sugar on children.
What counts as 5-a-day? Information on portion sizes, top tips and what counts as 5 fruits and vegetables a day.

What is Sugar Smart?

Sugar Smart is a national campaign that raises awareness of excess sugar consumption. It helps to improve the food environment. Its goal is to encourage and enable residents to reduce their sugar intake.

Why is Sugar Smart important?

Eating too many foods and drinks high in sugar can cause weight gain. It also increases the risk of heart disease, Type 2 Diabetes and some cancers
Children in Tower Hamlets have higher than average levels of excess weight
Levels of tooth decay are high in Tower Hamlets. Approximately 1/3 of five year olds have one or more decayed, missing or filled teeth

How can schools and community groups get involved?

Schools or community groups can sign a Sugar Smart Pledge.

To do that, please contact manal.adam@towerhamlets.gov.uk (Public Health) and david.banks@towerhamlets.gov.uk (The Healthy Lives Team).

Healthy Schools Silver and Gold Award

If you are a school and want to see how Sugar Smart can be part of this award, please contact david.banks@towerhamlets.gov.uk

Healthy Lives newsletters

During coronavirus, the team has sent out a frequent Healthy Lives newsletter. It’s for all school staff, pupils and families. It gives easy access to health advice and information.

If you know anyone who would like to sign up to this newsletter, please send them the following link.

They will need to close the initial pop-up subscription box and complete the one on the main webpage. They will then need to choose Children and Education as their preferred topic.

Past editions can be found on our newsletter archive page.