Paediatric weight management programme for children with diabetes: a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot was to develop a curriculum and teaching plan for weight management for children with diabetes. Session aims and objectives were discussed with the diabetes multidisciplinary team. The programme was entitled 'Stepping Stones' and divided into a junior (4-10 year olds) and senior (11-15 year olds) programme. The Heart of England NHS Trust cares for 408 paediatric patients with diabetes. For pilot purposes Stepping Stones took place at one hospital site (n=148). For the juniors programme 35 patients were invited (n=7 were due to attend sessions, n=5 actually attended). For the seniors programme 56 patients were invited (n=6 were due to attend sessions, n=0 attended). For the pilot, it was decided that the programme would run once-weekly for four weeks. Each session was 1 hour and held at the Education Centre at the hospital. Overall, the attendance at the group sessions was disappointing and meant that the results achieved from the juniors programme were not necessarily representative of the patient group. Only 40% (n=2) of the attendees were actually overweight but one of the participants successfully lost some weight and managed to move a centile line in weight while the other continued to track the same centile line for weight. On evaluation of the programme, all children felt that the Stepping Stones programme was helpful and 60% felt that it has improved their diabetes knowledge. All participants who attended the initial session did come to each of the following sessions as well, which demonstrated good attrition rates. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons.