Why Weight to Talk: Free Training Opportunity for VCFSE Organisations in Cheshire & Merseyside

A new opportunity for VCFSE organisations across Cheshire & Merseyside to access training on the complexities associated with weight and health will be available as a 1-hour course across October (see dates below). The Why Weight to Talk training programme has already been delivered to over 500 frontline staff from local authorities in Cheshire and Merseyside, and this will now be made available to anyone from VCFSE organisations in Cheshire and Merseyside to help strengthen knowledge and skills. The training will be delivered online by staff from the Food Active programme and will be of particular interest to organisations involved in delivery of the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme.

What is the “Why weight to talk” training? Many people believe that if we exercise a little more and eat a little less, then we can easily maintain a healthier weight. So why do we now find ourselves in a situation where 2 in 3 adults and 2 in 5 children at Year 6 are living with overweight and obesity?

Where we live, what we do for work, our education, and the relationships we have are increasingly recognised as important factors in our overall health and wellbeing. And when it comes to weight, the takeaways on our high streets, junk food marketing, the price of fruit and vegetables and the cost of cooking from scratch all shape our choices and decisions when it comes to food and nutrition.

“Why weight to talk?” is designed to help practitioners consider the broad range of factors – often outside of the control of an individual – that contribute to our health and wellbeing. The training also explores how weight stigma, both intentional and unintentional, can make it harder to maintain healthier behaviours and how as practitioners we can play a role in supporting children and families.

The training is 1 hour long, free of charge and is delivered via MS Teams. It will explore:

• The causes of overweight and obesity, and how where we live, what we do for work, and our level of education can impact our health and wellbeing.
• Weight stigma as an adverse experience that children and young people can suffer and how this can make it harder to make healthier choices.
• The importance of framing conversations to best support people’s needs and circumstances.

Feedback from July delivery to VCFSE organisations:

"Attending the session was beneficial for understanding some of the complexities associated with higher weight."

"It was really refreshing to hear disagreement with the calorie in calorie out model and to hear things like trauma led practice etc."

"The links between lack of income and obesity were interesting. This was unexpected until put in context"

"I was really interested to hear about the influence of trauma, ACEs and the information about weight stigma…will be inviting other team members to attend the full training to understand more"

Delivery dates & Registration: Please register your interest to attend the following sessions:

Tuesday 1^st October (2pm)                     Register to attend

Thursday 3^rd October (11am)                 Register to attend

Monday 7th October (3pm)                    Register to attend

Tuesday 8th October (11am)                 Register to attend

Thursday 10th October (3pm)               Register to attend

Monday 21st October (3pm)                  Register to attend

More information at: https://foodactive.org.uk/why-weight-to-talk-free-training-opportunity-for-vcfse-organisations-in-cheshire-merseyside-2/