You're a Health Professional - how can the Glugs help you?

If you were a delegate at Harrogate in October you will already have been introduced to the Glugs - a family of lovable animated cartoon characters, who form part of a new programme aimed to combat the rising tide of obesity in the very young. They start in January, at the beginning of a year which has been designated as being pivotal in the fight against childhood obesity.

The Glugs are the brainchild of a London arts studio employed by Professor Mary Rudolf, one of the UK's leading paediatricians when it comes to managing childhood obesity, to deliver healthy lifestyle messages to both the children and their parents. Her's is the latest contribution in the attempt to halt the year-on-year rise of obesity in children under-11yrs.

The CPHVA, represented by Professor Sarah Cowley, sits on the project team that decided to recruit the Glugs as the vehicle to spread the word. In conjunction with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, they have worked up a handbook and toolkit to accompany the training courses.

Levels of obesity are rising so fast in children today that the "time bomb" epithet first attributed to the issue by the Chief Medical Officer for England in 2003 has already started to go off. Although then it was thought that the problem was constrained to teenagers, the age when obesity begins to affect children has been decreasing so dramatically that, to-day, as many as 7% of children are overweight as they start school. The latest research has shown that preschoolers and even babies are affected.

There is no doubt that those working with young children have a responsibility to try to prevent the development of obesity, so health visitors and nursery nurses need to be in the frontline. They have the expertise to advise and support young families and are often the first port of call for parents with concerns. But because the "epidemic" has only recently affected this age group, the project team's research has shown that HV's training has not provided them with an approach for helping young children at risk for obesity.

To address this need the training courses, handbook and toolkit have been devised to help primary health care workers channel their skills in this new direction. The kit aims to provide the theory and the training courses provide the practical skills needed to influence parents and help them create a home environment that will most benefit their children.

But how do you best explain that to a toddler and pre-school child? This is where the Glugs make their entrance to capture the imagination of young children and their parents. Stories, recipes, specially designed Glug reward schemes, Glug games and entertainment are some of the tool's that have been developed. Through the Glugs children will learn about listening to their own bodies for hunger and fullness clues, about healthy eating and the social importance of mealtimes. They will learn about exercise and moderation as well as sharing and patience. The aim is to capture young children's interest and divert their pester power to healthier ends. In this way the risk of developing an unhealthy weight will be reduced and parent's efforts to create a healthy home environment supported and enhanced.

The Glug family live on Glug island, the most fertile, bounteous and fun place on earth. Think of it, if you will, as the most wondrous outdoor nursery - and the Glugs are its charges. As in the average nursery class, the Glugs learn to play and romp and just be together. They are good friends and do what good friends do especially when their mums and dads aren't around. But the beauty of Glug Island is that the animals discover how nature works for them. They pick the vegetables, cook the fruit from the trees, till the soil, milk the cow, collect the eggs and reap the harvest. And they cook it all, too!

The learning experience for the children is to discover that fruit and veg doesn't just come from the supermarket, that milk is not brewed in a bottle and that chips are made from potatoes. Good food tastes the best, patience makes things grow and lets things cook and each season of the year brings its own rewards.

At the same time the children learn the three "S2s - sitting, slowly and socialibility, They learn to share, working together, appreciating each others' talents , allowing for each other's shortcomings and understand each others feelings. They learn taking turns and taking time. They learn about caring - and the community.

Extracted from a Press Release by Tam Fry, Chairman, Child Growth Foundation.

For more information about the Glugs:

Click here to read an article from the Journal of Family Health Care

Click here to read more about Training Courses and enrol