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Family Fun Day Highlights Health
23rd August 2010
A Healthy Family Fun Day used a light-hearted approach to highlight the seriousness of health.
Sponsored by the Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group (SLIG) and supermarket chain Sainsbury’s, the event was held in the Colin Glen Forest Park on 19 August. It was also supported by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, whose staff members were among those manning stalls, providing diet and other health-related advice.
The health event also marked the start of a campaign to promote healthy living and to tackle obesity. This follows on the heels of a March 2009 Health Needs Audit “completed to provide a holistic view of health issues within and between Lenadoon and Suffolk and to identify gaps in local health services within and across both communities.”
Shaping future actions and developing a strategy in relation to health and tackling health and social inequalities is a key aspect of this work. Startlingly the audit revealed that almost 25% of school children in the 4-5 year old and 13-14 year old age brackets were overweight – representing a health bombshell for the future.
A stakeholder’s steering group was established to see how health could be promoted in Suffolk and Lenadoon. This organised a conference in March which accepted the need “for a strategy with a focus on addressing physical inactivity and obesity among local children and young people.” A number of “actions” are planned for the next twelve months. These will be implemented by local youth, community, child-care, after-schools and sporting organisations. Local schools, health professionals and statutory bodies are also involved.
Michael Doherty, Chairperson of the Lenadoon Neighbourhood Partnership, the main community organisation behind the combined health initiative, expressed his delight with the commitment shown. He added: “tackling health problems at an early stage is vital to laying the foundations for the future of communities like Suffolk and Lenadoon. Without health nothing else follows.” Adding to what Michael Doherty said, SLIG’s new Strategic Manager (Chief Executive) Harry Maher, who has just completed his first month in-the-job, said: “supporting grassroots health initiatives is an obvious priority for our flagship community development work.”
Further information:
Michael Doherty
T: 02890 585544 – Email: mdsarsfild@yahoo.co.uk