Eight towns, villages and cities across Scotland are taking part in a trial of a French programme that has cut childhood obesity by almost a quarter in participating towns in France.

The eight pilot Healthy Weight Communities are Armadale and Blackridge in West Lothian; Catrine in East Ayrshire; Barrhead in East Renfrewshire; Dumfries; Dundee; Priesthill and Househillwood in South-west Glasgow; Stevenston in North Ayrshire; and Viewpark in North Lanarkshire.

The eight pilot Healthy Weight Communities have been inspired by two French projects, EPODE (Preventing Childhood Obesity Together) and its predecessor, Villes Santés, which showed participating towns reversing childhood obesity and maternal weight gain while "control" towns saw both rise.
The initiative has been backed by £1.4 million of Scottish Government funding.

Public Health Minister Shona Robison said, “"The French experience can teach us valuable lessons in cutting obesity. Like their French inspirations, our Healthy Weight Communities will bring whole towns together to get more active and eat more healthily.

“Like their French inspirations, our Healthy Weight Communities will bring whole towns together to get more active and eat more healthily.
"They'll embrace everything from breastfeeding support groups to walking clubs and healthy local gala days. Crucially, they will involve councils, the NHS, the voluntary and private sector from schools and shops to community centres and parks.”

The first EPODE programme began in France in the 2003. EPODE now covers about 1.8 million people in 167 French cities, 20 cities in Spain and eight cities in Belgium. It is also being rolled out in Québec, Greece and Australia.

The Scottish Government is also consulting on revising the country’s Diabetes Action Plan.

Ms Robison said, “Obesity is thought to be the cause of nearly half the cases of Type 2 diabetes in Scotland – almost 100,000 people.
“Our consultation on a revised Diabetes Action Plan will consider how to prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes and how to detect it as early as possible to prevent complications.”