Brent South

Young people in Brent speak out on health

Dawn Butler MP visits Brent South youth centre to promote new youth health campaign

Teenagers at the Chalkhill Youth Centre in Brent South discussed their views and concerns on health with Dawn Butler MP on 27 February 2009 as part of a new campaign. Make Space for Health, which is run by national children’s charity 4Children and supported by Nestlé UK, is an innovative national programme designed to deliver health advice, support and activities in youth centres.

Dawn Butler, MP for Brent South said:
“Brent South is a great place for young people to grow up and develop healthy lifestyles.  However, experimentation and lack of clear health advice in adolescence can expose young people to serious future health risks. That’s why programmes such as Make Space for Health are so vital.  By listening to what young people are saying and building positive, cross-community health interventions we can help set teenagers on the right track for leading healthy, happy lives.”

The visit took place following the 2008 Public Health Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Report for Brent which shows a mixed picture of young people’s health needs. Encouragingly, approximately 52.3% of children in the borough eat enough fruit and vegetables compared to 37.5% in the country as a whole. Furthermore, in the TellUs3 survey of young people (aged 10-16) in Brent, 47% said they had never drunk an alcoholic drink compared to a national average of 25%.

However, the same survey revealed less enthusiasm for physical activity among young people. 27% admitted that they were only active for 30 minutes or more on 1-2 days per week (compared with 21% nationally) and just 30% said they were physically active for 30 minutes or more on 6-7 days a week (compared with 36% nationally).

Make Space for Health is designed to help young people who may not have access to support in more traditional medical or school settings. It is being developed with the support of an advisory panel of academic, health and Government experts including renowned health columnist Dr Miriam Stoppard.

Young people attending the event participated in a fun cookery demonstration hosted by a Nestlé chef who taught them some quick and simple healthy recipes.  Dawn Butler MP then led a discussion with the young people on issues ranging from how healthy they perceive themselves to be to how they would most like to access trustworthy advice and support.

Anne Longfield OBE, Chief Executive of 4Children, said:
“Make Space for Health responds to young people telling us they want to be healthier but don't have enough support or know where to go to get information. Young people and services have told us that, despite some moves towards integration, there's often little co-ordination between agencies on the ground. That is why this programme has been developed to ensure that health support is available in a variety of cross community settings for all young people.”

David Rennie, Director of Marketing, Nestlé Confectionery, said:
“We are delighted to be involved in the Make Space for Health initiative. With a 140 year history in food and nutrition research, Nestlé is committed to helping consumers of all ages lead healthier lives. Embedding healthy eating and lifestyle behaviours at a young age is critical as it gives our youth the best chance to be healthy adults – this is the core aim of the Make Space for Health programme.”

Make Space for Health has been established following startling revelations from the national Make Space youth consultation which revealed that 60% of teenagers do not know where to go to access health advice.  The programme raises awareness of wellness issues among youth workers and provides a broad range of health advice and support to young people in youth clubs.

The programme addresses health and wellness in a holistic way, promoting healthy eating, physical activity and emotional health through a series of modules entitled EAT, MOVE and FEEL which are delivered to young people by trained youth workers. Each module has been created with a partner organisation such as the British Nutrition Foundation.