SCUNTHORPE has become one of just eight towns to hold a health roadshow dedicated to helping parents keep babies healthy.

The Start 4 Life team hosted a day-long event at the Side by Side Children's Children Centre on Enderby Road, Scunthorpe, dedicated to teaching mums and dads how to give their kids the best possible start.

Low breast-feeding rates and high childhood obesity levels brought the health team to Scunthorpe, where the event proved a hit with local mums and dads.

Help on offer included breast feeding counselling, nutrition information and foods to try as well as physical fun, including a baby ball pool.

Mum Julie Rea, 28, took son Colby, 11 months, and gave the event her full support.

"It's a really good idea, particularly the help with breast feeding, I'm actually still breast feeding Colby but for mums who need some extra support or advice it's fantastic," she said.

"We often come to the centre anyway for the Stay and Play sessions, I think it's brilliant there's all this support for mums."

Scunthorpe was chosen, along with seven other towns, after information supplied by the local NHS revealed too few babies in the area benefited from breast milk and too many were overweight.

A spokeswoman for Start 4 Life said: "The aim is to target parents with babies aged from birth to two and to help instil good habits which will help keep their kids healthy long term.

"The response from parents has been fantastic we've had some really positive feedback."

Children's Centre manager, Faye Baker said she was glad to have hosted the event.

She said: "It's really reinforced the messages we already try and get across here so I'm really excited to have been part of the roadshow.

"We try and promote breast feeding and have some staff are trained in breast feeding support and we have active play sessions as well as giving the kids healthy food to eat and trying to get them interested in it."

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