Newham Early Start Nutrition Service
Background
Kristi Gander talks about the Early Start Community Nutrition Service which provides various services for pregnant women, children aged up to five years and their families.
We aim to equip families with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide a healthy diet for all family members.
The project is based in the London Borough of Newham, which is one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in England. Newham has the highest proportion of children under the age of one in the country, the highest proportion of non-white ethnic groups in the country, and the highest proportion of lone parent households in England and Wales.
As part of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department of Newham University Hospital NHS Trust we provide a service to the London Borough of Newham under a Service Level Agreement. Our aim is to aim to improve the nutrition and health of expectant mothers and infants and children up to the age of 5 years. Team members provide training, education, practical skill based sessions, interactive groups for children and individual advice for parents, carers and children (averaging 5000 contacts per year).
Aims and Objectives
AIM:
The main aim of the project is to prevent malnutrition; that is inadequate nutrition for optimal health. Our services are free of charge and are offered to all pregnant women; children aged 0-5 years and their families in Newham.
OBJECTIVES:
- Improving children’s health, Public Service delivery target: Information and guidance on nutrition available to all families with young children in Sure start local programme and children’s centre areas. -
- Increase the level of confidence of parent or carers in providing a healthy diet for themselves and their families after attending ESCNS session;
- Change in eating behaviours following immediate completion of a “Cook and Eat” project. Change in behaviour is measured by at least one of the following: increase in fruit and vegetable or fibre consumption, decrease in fat, salt or sugar;
- Level of sustained change in eating behaviours after three to six months following the completion of a “Cook and Eat” project. Change in behaviour is measured by at least one of the following: increase in fruit and vegetable or fibre consumption, decrease in fat, salt or sugar;
- Increase the number of portions of fruit and/or vegetables consumed by children under five years following participation in an ESCNS on-going session aimed at promoting healthy eating messages in young children;
- Increase the number of parents or carers who reported that their child tried at least one new fruit or vegetable as a result of attending an ESCNS on-going session aimed at promoting healthy eating messages to young children;
- Improve the level of knowledge following attendance at ESCNS information services. A multiple choice quiz will be used to measure knowledge
Partners
The Early Start Community Nutrition Service forms part of the Early Start Central Health Team, Extended Services in the London Borough of Newham, this is through a Service Level Agreement with the Newham University Hospital NHS Trust. We work closely with other Early Start Providers and Central Health Team services (such as the Speech and Language Therapy Service).
Methodology
Sessions are delivered through the 8 Early Start programmes that cover the borough; we conduct sessions at children’s centres, nurseries, community centres and health clinics. Sessions are scheduled depending on the content and audience, we run sessions through the day as well as in the evenings and some weekends (to enable working families to attend).
We also run one off group education sessions (such as Weaning Parties, Healthy Eating for 1-5s and Healthy Eating during Pregnancy), one-on-one nutrition advice, and more structured ongoing sessions (such as Cook and Eat, Taste and Talk and Little Green Fingers) which generally last 4-6 weeks.
Promotion
Early Start Community Nutrition Service groups are publicised through the 8 Early Start Programmes (who distribute quarterly calendars), we also send targeted letters to families with children of appropriate ages, and promote sessions through out-reach work by attending various other parent and toddler groups and health clinics.
Resources
We currently have a staff of 7 (one dietitian, three nutritionists, two community food workers, and one food project officer). Funding is through the London Borough of Newham, Extended Services, our budget is £200,000 - £250,000 per annum. This covers recruitment, staff salaries, training, ingredients for sessions. We have also developed our own resources including a folder of recipes for Cook and Eat sessions, recipe booklets for weaning, tips for parents to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables and information booklets to complement all groups.
Evaluation
Our service is evaluated on an ongoing basis. We conduct a pre and post evaluation of some sessions to measure change in knowledge and confidence around the topic discussed. We also do follow-up evaluation to measure sustained changes in behaviour 3-6 months after a group (such as Cook and Eat) and also evaluations after children’s sessions to determine an improvement in their acceptance of new foods. All evaluation is then fed back to the London Borough of Newham, Extended Services on a quarterly basis, and on an annual basis to ensure we are meeting our Service Level Agreement targets.
Lessons Learned
Initially we had some difficulty engaging with hard to reach families, we overcame this by sending targeted letters to families with children of a relevant age, we also conduct outreach work at parent’s groups, health clinics and open days to promote services. We work closely with other health professionals to delivery a joined up service to engage with families.
We are currently developing a Communications Strategy, which will allow us to continue to effectively raise awareness of the Early Start Community Nutrition Service. We will be able to continue forging links with health professionals and further partners.
Future Developments
We are funded by the Government's childrens centre initiative, at present our funding is available until March 2008. After this the trust will be evaluating this project in relation to mainstreaming.
Contact Details
Contact Name: Kristi Gander
Job Title: Early Start Community Dietitian
Phone: 0208 430 6606
Email: kristi.gander@newham.gov.uk
Fax: 0208 430 3000
Website:
Organisation: Early Start Central Health Team
Address: The Old Surgery 1 Comyns Close London E16 4JJ
