Healthier Futures - family support programme

Would you like to feel more confident as a parent? Are you keen to get help to give your child a healthy start in life, help them to eat more fruit and vegetables and reduce mealtime stress?

If so, then our new Healthier Futures programme could be for you.

It's a free, healthy families programe that offers a range of support for parents and carers of children aged 0 to 12 years old. The programme includes online and face to face sessions.

Children's early years are vitally important in terms of their health, wellbeing, learning and social development.

Our team of friendly staff know how difficult it can be to change old habits and we will be with you every step of the way.

Who can take part?

You can take part in our Healthier Futures programme if you:

  • are the parent or carer of a child aged 0 to 12 years
  • have a Derbyshire postcode or are registered with a Derbyshire GP
  • are the parent or carer of a child who is aged between 5 and 12 years and is over a healthy weight or is at risk of becoming an unhealthy weight, for example on or above the 85th BMI centile

How to take part

If you are a professional who works with children you can refer families into the Live Life Better Derbyshire Healthier Futures family lifestyles offer.

If you are a parent or carer, if eligible you can self refer using our online form.

What our service offers

Healthier Futures includes a range of free HENRY programmes.

The service also offers one-off sessions, for example Healthy Eating on a Budget. These are ideal if you are short on time, or you would like to try a taster session before committing further.

There are several courses to choose from, so please take a look at the information on this page and see which one is right for you and your family.

Healthy Families: Right from the Start - HENRY

This 8-week, online programme is a group session for parents and carers of children aged 0 to 5-years-old.

The sessions will give you ideas around changes you might like to make for a healthier and happier family. The sessions will help you to:

  • session 1 - make changes and set goals
  • session 2 - find a balance in meeting your, and your child’s, needs
  • session 3 - respond to children's needs without giving in to all their demands
  • session 4 - create positive mealtimes
  • session 5 - Introduce ideas for active play
  • session 6 - eat healthily
  • session 7 - understand and manage your child's behaviour
  • session 8 - celebrate your success as a parent and plan the future for your family

Healthy Families: Growing up - HENRY

food-in-the-shape-of-a-bear

This 8-week programme is a group session for parents and carers of children aged 5 to 12-years-old. This course aims to help you to build healthy family habits.

  • session 1 - What’s a healthy family?
  • session 2 - A healthy balance
  • session 3 - Understanding children’s behaviour
  • session 4 - Being a parent
  • session 5 - Healthy swaps
  • session 6 - Family mealtimes
  • session 7 - Negotiating family agreements
  • session 8 - Children growing older

Please note that your child's height and weight will be requested at 26 weeks and 52 weeks in addition to their starting measurements.

One-off sessions

We also deliver one-off sessions - ideal if you are short on time, or you would like to try a taster session before committing further. The sessions we currently offer are:

Healthy Eating Basics on a Budget

One-off session: A one and a half hour online session with lots of tips for healthy eating on a budget.

Top tips for making healthier choices:

A one and a half hour online session for parents and carers of children aged 0 - 12 years.

Talking about body image and weight with your child

One-off session: A one and a half hour online workshop to help parents build their children's confidence. For parents of children aged 5 - 12 years old.

Selective eating

One-off session. A one and a half hour online session: This is a workshop to help parents who want to encourage their child to have a more varied diet. For parents and carers of children aged 8-12 years.

Fussy Eating online workshop - HENRY

This is a one and a half hour online session for parents and carers of children aged one to seven-years-old who would like to encourage their child to have a more varied diet.

The session will help you:

  • create a relaxed mealtime
  • think of ideas to introduce new foods
  • be aware of hunger and fullness cues
  • be aware of suitable portion sizes

Further support

There's more information, help and guidance around healthy lifestyles for parents, carers and families.