Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service, delivered by Virgin Care in partnership with Barnardos, is helping Looked After Children in Essex unlock the knowledge they need to make healthy, balanced food choices – empowering them to make informed decisions about their diet and physical health.
Young children often learn how to maintain a healthy, balanced diet from their parents or guardians and from healthy lifestyle messages that are reinforced within their schools. However, research shows that Looked After Children in England are more likely to have poor health outcomes.
It is not uncommon for children and young people who have been taken into care to have experienced episodes of an inconsistent and poor diet, and no or very little education for making healthy eating habits.
Research suggests that the rates of emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties are 4-5 times higher amongst looked after children than the wider population. Having a healthy, balanced diet is proven to have positive impacts on mental health, which is why it’s so important.
Virgin Care’s Nurse Specialists for Looked After Children are responsible for assessing and promoting the wellbeing of these children by discussing and advising them on their physical and mental health, enabling access to health services, providing health promotion in terms of diet and nutrition, exercise, sleep, sexual health and more.
Emma Good, Nurse Specialist for Looked After Children has taken one step further by securing a grant from Virgin Care’s Feel the Difference Fund to purchase ‘portion plates’ to supply to children and young people in residential homes. The fund is a £100,000 annual pot of money which gives grants to employees so they can implement new ideas which will have a positive impact on service users and communities.
The portion plates display colourful visuals that advise how much of a meal should consist of fruits and vegetables, carbohydrates and proteins. The pictures will give children a better insight into what constitutes a healthy meal, and what a correct portion size looks like. Once they hold this knowledge, they will be empowered to make choices which will improve both their physical and mental health, along with their self-esteem and confidence.
Emma, who works for Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service, provided by Virgin Care in partnership with Barnardos said, “These young people have access to swimming pools and gyms to increase their physical activity, some are referred to dieticians for specialist input if required, and all receive encouragement from their support workers to follow guidance.
“I wanted to do more for our Looked After Children, ultimately they will soon become adults, and I wanted to empower them with the knowledge to make informed choices. This visual aid will ensure they understand how the key food groups come together in portions to create a healthy balanced diet.”
The portion control plates will have a variety of benefits for different children. Emma continued, “I often work with young girls struggling with body confidence, wanting to gain weight and build muscle. The portion plates can help in this situation by enabling children to physically see the amount of protein they should be eating and provide examples of sources of protein.
“For overweight children, the visual of how many fruits and vegetables they should be consuming will prompt them to increase their daily intake.”
Each child will benefit completely differently depending on their circumstances, which is why this initiative is so brilliant.
A Support Worker within a Children’s Residential Home said, “Many of our young people come to us having a very poor diet. Whilst we prepare and cook wholesome and healthy meals, it is also our responsibility to develop their independence skills”.
“They get to request groceries for the food shop, and some get an allowance for them to purchase their own groceries. But they tend to choose crisps, sweets, chocolate, instant noodles etc. These plates will help them to think about other foods they might like to try, and we can encourage them with this”
Richard Comerford, Virgin Care’s Managing Director for Essex Child and Family Wellbeing Service said, “There are no children more deserving of some extra help to live happier, healthier lives than those in care. It’s fantastic that we are able to support this terrific initiative that enables children to adopt life-long healthy behaviours.”
