Medical Sciences students present obesity study to NHS
Medical Sciences students Katie Howlett and Rhona Duff presented findings from their recently completed Honours projects to NHS Lothian on 16 June 2016.
Their Honours year project, "A qualitative study of the child healthy weight intervention – Get Going: Insights from young people and their families" has been recognized by the NHS as a significant study which will contribute to developing the way the Get Going programme helps children and families struggling with obesity.
Families participating with the NHS Get Going programme learn about nutrition, cook together to learn about cheap and healthy food, and play active games, equipping families with the tools they need to make positive and lasting changes.
NHS Lothian and the Get Going team have developed a close working relationship with the Medical Sciences Department at Edinburgh University over several years. This year I’m delighted that we been able to collaborate with Katie and Rhona on what has been a mutually beneficial project listening to the voices and experiences of the children, young people and the families that have participated in the Get Going programme. The valuable information that has been gathered through the qualitative analysis of individuals experiences of Get Going is already being put into use to help us enhance the service.
The students interviewed children and adults to learn about their experience on the programme. The study made important observations about anxiety, power relationships within families, and nutritional education.
After enjoying courses like HIS and SEAM throughout my degree I was very happy to be able to take what I'd learnt in these courses and explore similar issues in my honours project. It was initially daunting taking on a qualitative study but I had excellent support from my supervisor throughout the whole project and thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. I am especially excited about how the findings from my study are being used by the NHS to help inform their services and it's very rewarding to work on a project that will have real implications to child healthy weight services. The nature of my study has been pivotal in informing my future career choice and has been a great step into a masters in Public Health Nutrition at Queen Margaret University.
Exploration of what made the experience a positive one, such as fun, bonding between families, and more personal autonomy for children, particularly in areas such as cooking, revealed avenues for further study and real opportunities to enhance family wellbeing across a broader societal context.
Speaking to children and their parents who had had successful experiences of the programme was really rewarding. I especially enjoyed observing the interaction between children and parents in the interviews. Having discovered so many findings and gaining in depth feedback from participants of the programme I was interested to see how these would link with the current literature. Indeed, there were many areas highlighted by the families which the literature and the programme had previously explored. However, I think that the most rewarding aspect was increasing the child's voice in research. I am delighted to have done a project which will change the future of an NHS programme and hopefully benefit families even more.
The study will have impact on the experience of families taking part in Get Going in future.
Get Going
Find out more about the NHS Lothian Get Going project.
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