Johnstone will be the first area in Renfrewshire to pilot a programme that promotes healthier lifestyles for preschool children.

Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and Active Communities unveiled the Thrive Under 5 initiative that aims to support families in ensuring their children have good nutrition, healthy eating habits and partake in physical activity.

It also ensures families at risk of diet-related health inequalities have access to support and benefit from services.

After a successful pilot in Glasgow, funding from the Scottish Government has now been made available to pilot the programme in Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and East Renfrewshire.

Johnstone has been selected as the initial Thrive Under 5 pilot area for Renfrewshire and has chosen Active Communities as its delivery partner.

The support programme will target at least 60 families in the area who have at least one child under the age of five and meet one or more of the criteria such as they are single parents, have three or more children, have a disabled adult or child family member, are ethnic minority families, and, or, are parents under the age of 25.

The project hopes to combat various health issues by creating a system that emphasises food nurturing, financial stability, proper nutrition, and physical involvement.

Cllr Jennifer Adam, chair of the Renfrewshire Integration Joint Board, said: "Active Communities already do some fantastic work in our communities - and I am confident this partnership will further strengthen strong local collaborative working to benefit the people of Renfrewshire."

Alan Clark, chief executive officer at Active Communities, added: "Thrive Under 5 will support around 60 families with the resources to tackle food insecurity with access to money advice, support to cook healthy meals, access to fresh fruit and vegetables, physical activity opportunities and much more.

"This is just the start, and we hope we can continue to build upon this momentum to support many more families."