Actions

There's so much we can do to help support families to be a healthy weight.

The most effective and sustainable approaches involve collective efforts and alignment of actions across the borough.

Following our consultation and review of evidence, we agreed to focus on three main areas; healthy places, settings and services to help support children and young people to be a healthy weight.

Our 2023 to 2024 plan includes actions to begin in this financial year; some of which will be achieved within the year and some of which are longer term programmes.

Healthy places

Child Healthy Weight Action Plan - Healthy Places
Outputs	Milestones	Lead and Partners	Target completion dates
Agree and deliver programme of work on play.	We will lead the delivery of the Play Estates, Inclusive Play and School Playground pilot programmes, by August 2024	Public Health Education Play Charter Working Group	Complete
Agree and deliver programme of work on play.	We will develop a behaviour change comms plan to raise awareness of the importance of Play and will develop a training module to help embed the principles of play as outlined in the Play Charter.	Public Health Education Play Charter Working Group	March 2025 (12 months delivery plan)
Review existing social spaces for young people in the borough	We will support development of the Local Plan, specifically, we will conduct a Play Spaces Audit and support the development of a Community Infrastructure Audit in 2024.	Public Health Planning	Completed
Continue efforts to make fast food outlets healthier	We will recruit 10 new Food Outlets to receiving a Food For Health (FFH) Award.	Environmental Health	Completed
Supporting residents to access healthy and nutritious food (Fruit and Vegetable Vouchers Scheme)	We will support 220 households to access healthier diet and reduce food insecurity. We will enable our residents to access £75k worth of fresh fruit & veg.	Public Health	Completed
Physical Activity Needs Assessment for Children, young people and adults	We will develop a Health Needs Assessment on physical activity for children, young people, and adults, accompanied by an action plan outlining steps to increase and maintain physical activity; and reduce inactivity.	Public Health Leisure	Completed
Children’s access to green space	To improve Planning Policies to enabled children with greater access to green spaces including: Biodiversity and Open Space Homes for the Community	Public Health Planning Policy	Completed

Healthy setting

Child Healthy Weight Action Plan - Healthy setting
Outputs	Milestones	Lead and Partners	Target completion dates
Improve healthy eating in primary schools through delivering the Fantastic Food in Schools Programme (FFIS).	We will support primary schools healthy eating initiatives (as identified through the Fantastic Food in Schools survey),	Healthy Lives Contract Services Public Health	Programme runs until August 2025
Improve healthy eating in primary schools through delivering FFIS.	We will continue to support the implementation of the conditions of grant around school food provision in primary schools ? (Year 3 delivery)	Healthy Lives Contract Services Public Health	Programme runs until August 2025
Improve healthy eating in primary schools through delivering FFIS.	We will support at least 10 new schools through the Healthy Schools for London award process in school food.	Healthy Lives	Programme runs until August 2025
Improve healthy eating in primary schools through delivering the FFIS.	We will support schools to engage pupils in food production, from growing to cooking and eating (as identified by the FFIS survey), by coordinating work across schools, sharing best practice and linking schools with initiatives in the borough	Healthy Lives Contract Services Public Health	Programme runs until August 2025
Continue to support healthy eating in secondary schools through the delivery of free school meals	We will monitor the uptake of Free School Meals to identify and remove barriers and ensure all children can access these	Contract Services Public Health	Programme runs until August 2025
Continue to support healthy eating in secondary schools through the delivery of free school meals	We will work with research partners to evaluate the effectiveness of the Free School Meal Policy in secondary schools	Contract Services Public Health Academia	Programme runs until August 2025
Support the development of the Health offer in the new Youth Service	We will ensure that youth services align with the council's aims around healthy eating, including through their food offer, inclusion of physical activity and training for youth workers	Young Tower Hamlets	March 2025

Healthy services

Child Healthy Weight Action Plan - Healthy services
Outputs	Milestones	Lead and Partners	Target completion dates
Deliver healthy weight training for professionals	We will develop an online training library on child healthy weight - to be held on the GP Care Group website. This will allow health and community professionals easy access to reputable up-to-date training on topics related to healthy weight	GP Care Group Public Health	March 2025
Deliver healthy weight training for professionals	We will develop and deliver a training offer to key workforce groups (including those working in, social care, Young Tower Hamlets, those working with looked after children, Social Prescribers and School Nurses working in special schools)	GP Care Group Public Health	March 2025
Deliver healthy weight training for professionals	We will evaluate the effectiveness of child healthy weight training, through an auditing programme in the 0-19 service	GP Care Group Public Health	March 2025
Deliver healthy weight training for professionals	We will improve the recording, collection and flagging of BMI data on the EMIS platform - ensuring GP's are notified of very overweight children on their case load	GP Care Group Public Health	March 2025
Implement the Child Healthy Weight Pathway	We will implement a CHW pathway that offers sustainable, family-focused and holistic support; including, across primary care and community organisations.	Public Health NHS NEL ICB	Completed
Implement the Child Healthy Weight Pathway	We will support the delivery of a GP Incentive Project to pilot the primary care CHW pathway	Public Health NHS NEL ICB	March 2025
Implement the Child Healthy Weight Pathway	We will research the needs of underweight children and those who may have eating disorders (giving special consideration to the potential impact of healthy weight messages on these groups)	Public Health	March 2025
Implement the Child Healthy Weight Pathway	We will improve the recording, collection and flagging of BMI data on the EMIS platform - ensuring GP's are notified of very overweight children on their case load	•Public Health	March 2025

Infant feeding

Deliver improvements in infant feeding

All 0-19 services to achieve Stage 3 BFI re-accreditation.

Lead the coordination of infant feeding activity

This includes conducting research, establishing the infant feeding strategy, setting up infant feeding steering group, breastfeeding welcome scheme, partnership working between agencies.

Share knowledge and skills relating to infant feeding

Engage with regional and national partners to facilitate sharing.

Support regional and national training, webinars and presentations at conferences and various events.

Tower Hamlets council-wide priorities

Wider corporate priorities that will positively impact on healthy weight include:

Tackling the cost of living crisis

will help tackle food poverty, supporting people to afford healthy food.

Homes for the future

tackling overcrowding will make it easier for people to cook at home.

Accelerating education

free school meals and breakfast clubs will provide healthy food for children. Investing in youth centres can support young people to develop life skills like cooking and participate in leisure activities.

Boost culture, business, jobs and leisure: opening up sporting opportunities, ensuring parks and other council facilities meet people’s sporting needs will help people to be more active.

Invest in public services

insourcing the leisure contract brings new opportunities to support physical activity, with the overall plan of implementing a borough-wide healthy child weight programme bringing all the actions together.

Empower communities and fight crime

families will feel safer to walk and cycle and use public spaces.

A clean and green future

improving air quality standards will encourage residents to be more active outside, including using sustainable travel modes.

A council that listens and works for everyone

Using our insight and research capabilities will inform decisions on how best to support residents to be a healthy weight.

Wider council-led work

Sport

The new leisure service, Be Well, will focus on a holistic view of health and wellbeing, alongside increasing participation and access for residents with a focus on women and girls, older adults, and people at risk of, or living with, a long-term condition. https://be-well.org.uk/

There is a wide selection of sport clubs to suit any activity and lifestyle across the borough.

We support major sporting events e.g. International Womens week, Get Your Skates on. In addition, we host seasonal events such as Tower Hamlets' Summer of Fun where we have even more activities to keep children and teenagers busy throughout the summer months.

Our Outdoor Education Team offer young people an opportunity to broaden their horizons and develop key skills such as leadership, teamwork and self-motivation.

Parks

We have many diverse parks, gardens and open spaces with 64 Playground sites.

We provide sports facilities – outdoor gyms, fenced kickabout areas, pitches and tennis courts across the borough.

We run adventurous play sessions 3 days a week at Whitehorse Adventure Playground.

Stay and Play sessions held in the Children's Pavilion in Mile End Park.

Run a range of school holiday activities including:

Adventurous Play at Bartlett Park
Adventurous Play with Glamis and Weaver’s Adventure Playgrounds
Gardening activity at Mile End Park Ecology activity (pond dipping, nature walks) for families

Active travel

We make it easier for children and young people to embed physical activity throughout their day through supporting active travel:

School Travel Plans – we monitor how children and staff travel to school and identify measures to decrease car usage and increase walking, scooting, cycling and public transport.

Bikeability school cycle training

BikeIT plus targeted interventions in the following schools:

Old Ford Primary
Marner
Kobi Nazrul
Osmani
Cubitt Town

We offer family cycle training during school summer holidays at Victoria Park.

Schools

Healthy Lives support our schools to promote behaviours that can positively impact healthy weight in children:

Support healthy breakfast clubs
Deliver parent workshops in schools on healthy eating and oral health
Promote and support schools to implement the Daily Mile
Promoting gardening in schools, including delivering training
Advisory work with PE teachers on best practice delivery
Signpost and share resources with schools with encourage physical activity and healthy eating
Active movement pilot programme running in schools
Work closely with London Marathon to publicise and encourage the uptake of The Daily Mile and other physical activity initiatives
Run large scale healthy eating and physical activity events
Healthy Schools Awards – offer support and advice to all schools in the borough around healthy eating and physical activity
Healthy Schools Silver and Gold Awards – targeted projects on healthy eating and physical activity to meet the needs of the school

Working with residents

Insight work

focus groups with young people and interviews with parents.

Healthy advertising

Consulted through events, meetings and surveys.

Fantastic Food in Schools programme

Taste sessions, focus groups and surveys.

CMP programme

Focus groups and surveys.