AN initiative to tackle teenage obesity has been launched in Glasgow today.

Set up by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Weigh To Go targets 15 to 18-year-olds who want help with weight loss and fitness.

Piloting in the north-west of the city and Inverclyde, it will offer access to weight loss classes from Weight Watchers, Slimming World or Scottish Slimmers, and up to six months of free gym membership with Glasgow Life.

There will be weekly contact with a youth worker to check on progress and offer advice and help.

And teens taking part will have the opportunity to get involved in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards programme and Youth Achievement Awards.

Programme manager Linda Morris said: "The health board strategy for targeting obesity covers ages from five to 15, then adults from 18 and above.

"There was a gap in service for those aged between 15 and 18.

"My colleague Anne Gebbie-Diben, who is a nutritionist, and I were concerned that we could only take children to before their 16th birthday. The weight management service couldn't take them because they are not adults, so what do we do with these young people whose families or themselves might have concerns or want to manage their weight?"

The British Heart Foundation Healthy Lives Fund is financing the three-year project that will be rolled out across the city.

It is the latest branch of our Active 2014 campaign that launched earlier this year to improve the health of Scots in the year of the Commonwealth Games and build a lasting legacy of physical wellbeing.

Working with partners Glasgow Life and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde we will be creating exciting opportunities for individuals, communities and businesses to get active as we bid to improve the health of as many people as possible.

The message of this campaign is that even the smallest changes in activity and lifestyle can make a huge health improvement.

Linda said: "When we looked at the research we noticed that since 1995 the prevalence of obesity in 16 to 24-year-olds had increased from 16 to 27% in men and 17 to 28% in women. You can't help but be struck by the fact that young people are in general becoming heavier.

"We know from the schools survey in Glasgow that children are more sedentary: there's quite a lot of screen time, they are less likely to go out and participate in physical activity and, from Sport-scotland, we know that girls especially become inactive around 14 years of age.

"A lot of things were pointing to the fact that we could do something for that age range. We shouldn't have a chasm."

LINDA and her team asked young people what they wanted, then planned a tailor-made project to include education sessions.

These tell them about healthy eating and physical activity, gym sessions, and if anyone needed extra help they could be able to call someone. To be eligible for Weigh To Go, people must be aged between 16 and 18, have a BMI of greater than 25 and be suitable for a weight-loss programme.

Linda said: "The Youth Health Service is interested holistically in young people. Sometimes they come along to services and what they are coming along for isn't always the root of their problem.

"They have maybe come to the service to find out about free condom issue, for example, but what's underneath all that is they have self-esteem issues. We want to coach them all the way through the project and be tuned in to that young person."

Boosting the confidence of teenagers with weight issues is the focus of the project and according to Linda that will be done through education and learning how to take control of their lives.

"Hopefully what they'll get out of this is that it's within their grasp to be able to do things for themselves.

"It is important to give a young person the confidence to do that."

An incentive of Weigh To Go is a link up with Young Scot - by attending the gym or weight management classes, young people will accrue rewards in the shape of gym membership, sessions at the Velodrome or spa treatments.

"We want to reward them to make them feel good about themselves, for managing their weight and doing something healthy."

AND she went on: "It is something to make people feel good about themselves."

Teenagers who want to find out more about Weigh To Go should contact the Youth Health Service at Possilpark Health & Care Centre in Saracen Street on 0141 531 8718.

Alternatively, drop in for a chat on a Wednesday from 6.30-9pm at Possilpark Health & Care Centre or on Thursdays from 6.30-9pm at Maryhill Health Centre in Shawpark Street.

The project was launched as a report revealed over-weight teenage girls have low attainment levels.

angela.mcmanus@eveningtimes.co.uk