ALAMY
Tackle childhood obesity with HENRY Identifying the strengths within a family is the key to creating positive change, says Jennifer Trueland How often do you hear a parent say to a child that they were so good in the supermarket that they would buy them some broccoli? Or they were so brave when they cut their finger that they could have a carrot? Rather, says Candida Hunt, the food of reward for children tends to be high in sugar and fat, setting up a pattern for life. A parenting educator and behaviour change specialist,
Ms Hunt is co-founder of HENRY (Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young), a charity which trains health and early years practitioners to address issues of obesity in babies and children up to the age of five. She is also the author of a new book, Healthy Families, Right from the Start with HENRY, intended as a tool for both parents and practitioners. According to Ms Hunt, tackling childhood obesity is not simply
a matter of looking at what a child is eating. ‘Our basic premise is that food is only one part of it,’ she says. ‘If a three-year-old is not eating vegetables, then it is not a nutrition problem – it is wider than that.’ Childhood obesity is a major problem. The latest figures from Public Health England suggest that almost a third of ten to 11-year-olds, and a fifth of four to five-yearolds are overweight or obese (tinyurl.com/ch-hood-obesity). As well as being at increased risk of various health problems, obese children are more likely to become obese adults, with
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the process of building a happy and healthy family with a mixture of practical advice – on types of activity, or on portion size, for example – and discussion on the importance of emotions. Readers are encouraged to use their book to write down personal details, such as goals and activities, meaning that each copy becomes unique. Lyndis Forster, a health visitor with Oxford Health Foundation Trust, has completed the HENRY core training and facilitation training. She finds the HENRY approach valuable in her day-to-day working life. ‘It is about finding something positive,’ she says. ‘And it is about supporting parents to become enthusiastic
SUMMARY
associated risk of illness and early death. The HENRY approach is based on the latest research about the complex factors that can lead to obesity, and involves working with families in a positive way, building on their strengths to encourage healthy lifestyles, rather than telling people what they are doing wrong. It is about role-modelling good behaviour and supporting change, says Ms Hunt, and this starts in the training courses that the organisation runs for healthcare practitioners. ‘Our trainers work with participants as gently and kindly as we want them to work with parents. ‘They will encourage participants to think about their own lifestyle. If a nurse or health visitor is significantly overweight and goes to a family and tries to advise them on a healthier lifestyle, what are they [the family] going to think?’ Feedback from participants suggests that many have made improvements in their own lifestyle following the course, which, in turn, says Ms Hunt, increases their confidence about raising similar issues with parents. Health visitors are in a good position to influence positive change in families with young children, she says. They have the chance to build a trusting relationship with parents at a time when they are often open to making improvements. The key, however, is to build on the positives, rather than going in with all guns blazing. ‘All of us need help to change, what we do not need is to be criticised,’ she says. ‘It is important to identify a family’s strengths. For example, they might have toys around, so you can talk about how good it is that they are playing with their children and that they have a warm relationship with them. ‘Getting people to talk about something that is working well, so that they feel quite successful, means that they are more likely to want to be successful in the next thing they do.’ The book helps parents and practitioners to navigate through
The charity HENRY trains healthcare practitioners to support families with young children to eat healthily and avoid obesity. This means building on each family’s strengths to encourage healthy lifestyles and role-modelling good behaviour. Author Jennifer Trueland is a freelance journalist
Top tips for giving support with the HENRY approach Review your own lifestyle. To offer support with integrity, we need to practise ourselves what we hope to encourage in others. Take time to build a trusting relationship before you explore any lifestyle issues. Use your knowledge to draw out the parent’s own expertise, rather than to advise on what you think they need to do. Listen twice as much as you talk. Find out which of the five lifestyle areas the parent thinks is the best place to start: parenting skills, eating habits, nutrition, being active, or emotional wellbeing. Readiness to change combines desire for change and confidence that we can make changes – helping someone discover their own motivation plays an important part. Key catalysts for change are empathy, working in partnership, building on the parent’s own strengths. Focus on solutions rather than problems. Change involves action. Help the parent discover one small change they can achieve.
Healthy Families: Right from the Start with HENRY, is available direct from www.henry.org.uk
and taking ownership, rather than telling them what to do.’ Encouraging parents to realise that being active does not necessarily involve going to the gym – ‘it can be about playing a game as a family or going for a walk’ – can be life-changing, she says. ‘With the HENRY approach you will suddenly see the penny drop, for example, on portion size. You [the health visitor] do not actually have to say anything.’ Helen Nolan, a former district nurse, who now works as a national trainer with HENRY, believes that working in partnership is vital, whether it is between trainer and course participant, or practitioner and parent. ‘It is about being empathic, tuning into what the trainees are saying, about what is important to them. You might have an idea of the issue you think is most important, but that is not their most pressing issues. So you really have to listen and hear what their issue is.’ The health visitors she trains countrywide have different concerns, but issues that often come up include time constraints and the challenges of ensuring that safeguarding requirements are kept. It is important to allow the practitioners to come to their own conclusions about how they can best support families, she says. Hopefully, they in turn will ‘resist the temptation to jump in and try to solve everything’. Ms Forster agrees. ‘I’m very proud of being a health visitor and want to do well by families,’ she says. ‘I think we do that best by working alongside them, and building that relationship’ NS www.henry.org.uk/for-practitionersmanagers-and-commissioners
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Tackle childhood obesity with HENRY Identifying the strengths within a family is the key to creating positive change, says Jennifer Trueland How often do you hear a parent say to a child that they were so good in the supermarket that they would buy them some broccoli? Or they were so brave when they cut their finger that they could have a carrot? Rather, says Candida Hunt, the food of reward for children tends to be high in sugar and fat, setting up a pattern for life. A parenting educator and behaviour change specialist,
Ms Hunt is co-founder of HENRY (Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young), a charity which trains health and early years practitioners to address issues of obesity in babies and children up to the age of five. She is also the author of a new book, Healthy Families, Right from the Start with HENRY, intended as a tool for both parents and practitioners. According to Ms Hunt, tackling childhood obesity is not simply
a matter of looking at what a child is eating. ‘Our basic premise is that food is only one part of it,’ she says. ‘If a three-year-old is not eating vegetables, then it is not a nutrition problem – it is wider than that.’ Childhood obesity is a major problem. The latest figures from Public Health England suggest that almost a third of ten to 11-year-olds, and a fifth of four to five-yearolds are overweight or obese (tinyurl.com/ch-hood-obesity). As well as being at increased risk of various health problems, obese children are more likely to become obese adults, with
22 september 3 :: vol 29 no 1 :: 2014 NURSING STANDARD Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Oct 13, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
the process of building a happy and healthy family with a mixture of practical advice – on types of activity, or on portion size, for example – and discussion on the importance of emotions. Readers are encouraged to use their book to write down personal details, such as goals and activities, meaning that each copy becomes unique. Lyndis Forster, a health visitor with Oxford Health Foundation Trust, has completed the HENRY core training and facilitation training. She finds the HENRY approach valuable in her day-to-day working life. ‘It is about finding something positive,’ she says. ‘And it is about supporting parents to become enthusiastic
SUMMARY
associated risk of illness and early death. The HENRY approach is based on the latest research about the complex factors that can lead to obesity, and involves working with families in a positive way, building on their strengths to encourage healthy lifestyles, rather than telling people what they are doing wrong. It is about role-modelling good behaviour and supporting change, says Ms Hunt, and this starts in the training courses that the organisation runs for healthcare practitioners. ‘Our trainers work with participants as gently and kindly as we want them to work with parents. ‘They will encourage participants to think about their own lifestyle. If a nurse or health visitor is significantly overweight and goes to a family and tries to advise them on a healthier lifestyle, what are they [the family] going to think?’ Feedback from participants suggests that many have made improvements in their own lifestyle following the course, which, in turn, says Ms Hunt, increases their confidence about raising similar issues with parents. Health visitors are in a good position to influence positive change in families with young children, she says. They have the chance to build a trusting relationship with parents at a time when they are often open to making improvements. The key, however, is to build on the positives, rather than going in with all guns blazing. ‘All of us need help to change, what we do not need is to be criticised,’ she says. ‘It is important to identify a family’s strengths. For example, they might have toys around, so you can talk about how good it is that they are playing with their children and that they have a warm relationship with them. ‘Getting people to talk about something that is working well, so that they feel quite successful, means that they are more likely to want to be successful in the next thing they do.’ The book helps parents and practitioners to navigate through
The charity HENRY trains healthcare practitioners to support families with young children to eat healthily and avoid obesity. This means building on each family’s strengths to encourage healthy lifestyles and role-modelling good behaviour. Author Jennifer Trueland is a freelance journalist
Top tips for giving support with the HENRY approach Review your own lifestyle. To offer support with integrity, we need to practise ourselves what we hope to encourage in others. Take time to build a trusting relationship before you explore any lifestyle issues. Use your knowledge to draw out the parent’s own expertise, rather than to advise on what you think they need to do. Listen twice as much as you talk. Find out which of the five lifestyle areas the parent thinks is the best place to start: parenting skills, eating habits, nutrition, being active, or emotional wellbeing. Readiness to change combines desire for change and confidence that we can make changes – helping someone discover their own motivation plays an important part. Key catalysts for change are empathy, working in partnership, building on the parent’s own strengths. Focus on solutions rather than problems. Change involves action. Help the parent discover one small change they can achieve.
Healthy Families: Right from the Start with HENRY, is available direct from www.henry.org.uk
and taking ownership, rather than telling them what to do.’ Encouraging parents to realise that being active does not necessarily involve going to the gym – ‘it can be about playing a game as a family or going for a walk’ – can be life-changing, she says. ‘With the HENRY approach you will suddenly see the penny drop, for example, on portion size. You [the health visitor] do not actually have to say anything.’ Helen Nolan, a former district nurse, who now works as a national trainer with HENRY, believes that working in partnership is vital, whether it is between trainer and course participant, or practitioner and parent. ‘It is about being empathic, tuning into what the trainees are saying, about what is important to them. You might have an idea of the issue you think is most important, but that is not their most pressing issues. So you really have to listen and hear what their issue is.’ The health visitors she trains countrywide have different concerns, but issues that often come up include time constraints and the challenges of ensuring that safeguarding requirements are kept. It is important to allow the practitioners to come to their own conclusions about how they can best support families, she says. Hopefully, they in turn will ‘resist the temptation to jump in and try to solve everything’. Ms Forster agrees. ‘I’m very proud of being a health visitor and want to do well by families,’ she says. ‘I think we do that best by working alongside them, and building that relationship’ NS www.henry.org.uk/for-practitionersmanagers-and-commissioners
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