Report of the Director of Public Health

This report provides an update on the delivery of weight management services in the city and introduces the Food Active! Healthy Weight Declaration. It provides evidence of the work delivered by commissioned weight management service providers and wider system partners such as physical activity providers.

The Committee considered the report of Director of Public Health that provided an update on the delivery of weight management services in the city and introduced the Food Active! Healthy Weight Declaration. It provided evidence of the work delivered by commissioned weight management service providers and wider system partners such as physical activity providers.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Noting that in Manchester 63% of adults (Active Lives Survey 2018) and 41% of children aged 10-11 years (National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) 2020) were overweight or obese even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher than the national average;

·         The Population Health Team was responsible for the overall Healthy Weight Strategy and the commissioning of services that delivered obesity prevention in Adults and Children;

·         The strategy took a whole system, partnership approach to tackling obesity in the city and was developed across four key themes; Food & Culture, Physical Activity, Environment & Neighbourhoods and Support & Prevention;

·         The Strategy was launched in September 2021 following the pandemic;

·         Describing the commissioning of services at Tier Two and Tier Three;

·         Describing the role of the Project Manager who had been appointed to work across neighbourhoods to support the delivery of the Healthy Weight Strategy and embed referral pathways for weight management support; and

·         Describing the Food Active! Healthy Weight Declaration and the key pledges.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         With reference to the discussion on the previous agenda item, it was important to recognise the impact of the cost of living crisis on residents and the food options that were available to them;

·         Whilst noting the work of Slimming World, it was important to recognise that a one size fits all approach was not appropriate;

·         The need to engage with, and ensure services were appropriate for the diverse population and communities across Manchester;

·         Consideration should be given to the use of Council owned buildings and lease arrangements to support community groups to support and build upon the activities described;

·         Appropriate consideration needed to be given to the support and interventions for the different types of diabetes, noting that they were distinctly different; and

·         How the impact of the services described was measured.

The Director of Public Health described that despite the challenges described in relation to the grant funding, a range of free services had been provided for residents. The Commissioning Manager advised that Slimming World was an example of the offer provided and quality assurance monitoring of this service was undertaken. He described that the Slimming World offer was part of a wider suite of services designed to support people, making reference to the work of the Parks Team, local neighbourhood activities and Manchester Active.

Catherine Hollingsworth, Partnership Account Manager, Slimming World provided an overview of the service offered by Slimming World, noting that this would be tailored to the individual needs of the person as it was recognised that a ‘one size fits all’ approach was not appropriate. She described that the programme encouraged and supported a person to develop a healthy and positive relationship to food.

The Director of Public Health advised that the need to deliver appropriate, inclusive services, delivered in a safe environment was understood and taken into consideration, noting that culturally appropriate and tailored interventions had been delivered and the success and learning from these would be built upon to maximise their reach across all communities. A Member requested that any future update report should include information relating to the quality assurance and monitoring of those commissioned services that delivered obesity prevention in neighbourhoods.

Decisions

1.         The Committee note the report and support the Food Active! Healthy Weight             Declaration.

2.         Recommend that any future update report should include information relating       to the quality assurance and monitoring of those commissioned services that       delivered obesity prevention in neighbourhoods.