How do CEW clinics support CYP&F from ethnic minority backgrounds?

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    NHS Complications from Excess Weight (CEW) Clinics: A qualitative exploration of how clinics support children, young people and families (CYP&F) from ethnic minority backgrounds.

  • IRAS ID

    361721

  • Contact name

    Daisy Forman

  • Contact email

    daisy.forman@shu.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Sheffield Hallam University

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 5 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    Childhood overweight and obesity are very important public health issues in the UK (WHO, 2021), which unfairly affect children and young people (CYP) from ethnic minority backgrounds (GOV.UK, 2024). This chronic health condition can contribute to both short and long-term health risks, such as adulthood obesity, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and mental health issues (WHO, 2024). In 2021, NHS England rolled out twenty-one Tier 3 Complications from Excess Weight (CEW) clinics. These clinics have been designed and set up in England to support CYP living with severe obesity (NHS England, n.d).

    This study is being conducted as part of a PhD project which is connected to the NIHR-funded evaluation of CEW clinics (Evaluating the NHS England Complications of Excess Weight service for children and young people (ENHANCE) https://www.enhance-research.com/). This PhD project aims to explore how CEW clinic teams support CYP&F from ethnic minority backgrounds to engage, and will take place in 2 to 3 clinics. Study-site selection is based on the ethnic diversity of the patients attending the clinics. Data will be collected through (i) qualitative semi-structured interviews with healthcare professionals (HCPs) working within the selected clinics, (ii) qualitative semi-structured interviews with parents/carers who are attending one of the selected clinics with their child (aged 12 to 18 years), and (iii) a modified photovoice activity with Young People (YP) aged 12 to 18 years who are attending a clinic. Findings will be used to gain a better understanding of how clinics engage with CYP&F and will provide recommendations for optimising engagement amongst CYP&F from ethnic minority backgrounds for CEW clinics (Anderson et al., 2023).

    For this study, the GOV.UK advice on writing about ethnicity will be referred to. The term ‘Ethnic minorities’ refers to all ethnic groups except the white British group. More information can be found here: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/style-guide/writing-about-ethnicity/#:~:text=We%20use%20'ethnic%20minorities'%20to,how%20the%20groups%20were%20chosen.

  • REC name

    North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2

  • REC reference

    26/NS/0011

  • Date of REC Opinion

    12 Mar 2026

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion