3. Why train Health Visitor teams to identify infants at risk of overweight?

There is good evidence that early prevention programmes delivered during an infant’s first year of life can reduce the risk of them becoming overweight in the future. Health Visiting (HV) teams are ideally placed to deliver public health prevention programmes because they have highly skilled practitioners who can promote healthy weight and healthy nutrition to the whole family through the delivery of the Health Child Programme. Health visiting teams are a valued source of advice and support for families. Prevention of overweight and obesity in the early years is also one of the key public health priorities for health visiting services.

Currently there is no recognised classification of infant overweight in the UK to help health professionals target their advice and support. Research shows that parents are often pleased when infants gain weight rapidly or are large for their age.

Society’s preference for larger infants and rapid weight gain can create an unconscious bias amongst healthcare professionals. This unconscious bias can be inadvertently reinforced during discussions about infant size and weight. The benefits of identifying infants at greater risk of becoming overweight as children are that health care professionals will be able to provide a more personalised response to care and tailor their advice and support accordingly.