The importance of the health of our young children was echoed in hui and fono undertaken as part of the Let’s Beat Diabetes (LBD) planning process, where Maori and Pacific peoples gave strong guidance that LBD must focus strongly on our future generations, and place more effort on protecting children from obesity and subsequent disease. Childhood obesity can lead to early onset of diabetes and is a strong predictor of adult obesity.

There are currently a number of major changes in the services focusing on the early years, which create opportunities for review and redevelopment of approaches to improve nutrition and activity for young children. Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) is working with maternal and Well Child providers to review service provision. The Family Start programme offers opportunities for Well Child providers to be involved in broader whole-family multiple-issues approach to be taken with our most vulnerable families. There is a growing awareness at the levels of research, policy and practice that our current Well Child framework needs to place more emphasis on nutrition and activity in the early years and the long term implications of early onset obesity. There has been mainstream adoption of the evidence that points to increasing risks of diabetes for children born from mothers who are in a pre-diabetic state. Recent changes to Well Child funding have allowed for more flexibility and intensity of service when dealing with vulnerable families.

A professional review of the Well Child framework is required, along with the development of detailed recommendation of practical changes and then the development of workforce training and supporting resources and systems before those changes can be implemented. The LBD agenda also has to sit alongside other reviews of Well Child provision in Counties Manukau.