A Community Partnership lead by the Family Initiative Supporting Children’s Health Team (FISCH) in County Durham has developed a 10-week school based and family focused activity programme, Sporting Chance, to tackle childhood obesity of children aged 7-11 recruited and funded through local primary schools.

The partnership is keen to support the development of the programme with ongoing evaluation over its two-year lifespan to assess its impact on children’s Body Mass Index (BMI) after 10 weeks, on follow-up at six months and also on self-esteem measures and continued participation in physical activities after the 10-week programme.

After an initial conversation with the programme coordinators, a team of Fuse researchers with expertise in physical activity, healthy eating and psychological behaviour offered their support in strengthening the programme based on insights from the existing evidence base and from their own research to maximise the potential outcomes of the programme.

The team advised the programme coordinator on appropriate measures for BMI, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, nutritional intake and social context. The team also helped the partnership to develop a research proposal, focussing in particular on the family engagement approach, exploring whether and how this approach sustains the programme in the local community environment.

Contact details:

Chris Elliot

Physical Activities Officer

(Children and Young People)

Peterlee Onepoint

Tel: 07786026925

Email: chris.elliot@durham.gov.uk