Around 10,000 parents will be invited to attend the seminars, which will cover subjects such as managing bad behaviour,

encouraging good eating habits and handling bedtime.

The radical initiative uses a programme known as Triple P, which was developed in Australia and has been adopted in countries around the world.

Research in Australia found that offering Triple P training to an entire population resulted in a 22% reduction in children’s emotional and behavioural problems.

In Glasgow, it is hoped the lessons, alongside other support for vulnerable families, will not only improve the start children enjoy in life but lead to healthier adults -- breaking the cycle of poor life expectancy that blights the city’s most deprived communities.

Earlier this month Dr Harry Burns, Scotland’s chief medical officer, said erratic parenting may be partly to blame for the country’s high rates of disease and premature deaths. Experts have shown that stress early in life may lead to hormonal changes that ultimately put people at greater risk of illnesses such as heart disease.

Dr Linda de Caestecker, director of public health for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “It is the very early years and how we support parents which have a huge impact on the wellbeing of children in future years.

“If we are going to tackle health inequalities we have to put more resources and effort into that.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is launching the parenting classes in April in conjunction with Glasgow City Council. They will run into the summer.

All parents of primary one pupils and parents of four-year-olds who have registered their children for school will be invited to attend a course of three seminars. About 500 people are being trained to deliver the Triple P programme, including health visitors and educational psychologists. The scheme will cost £250,000 annually over the next three years.

A variation of the course has already been used with vulnerable families in Glasgow and one-to-one work will continue alongside the classes. The council has also set up nurture groups in schools, which provide intensive social, educational and emotional support to small numbers of struggling children and their immediate relatives.

However, Maureen McKenna, education director for Glasgow, said: “The important thing is to get a whole-population approach because if you go for a population approach that has the best impact long term.” Dr de Caestecker emphasised the classes were accessible to everyone and offered potential benefits to all families. She said: “All of us know what it is like going around a supermarket with a child who wants things. Triple P is based on positive reinforcement.

“There is a lot of rewarding good behaviour, how you encourage the kind of behaviour you want in your child in terms of them caring about others and learning boundaries. There are also strategies for parents to implement on how to manage behavioural problems.”

However, Judith Gillespie, development manager of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, said she was sceptical about how well-attended the sessions would be -- suggesting they would attract parents who are already confident, rather than those who needed help.

Ms Gillespie believes that mothers and fathers would respond better to a drop-in service, where they could ask questions about their particular parenting problems, rather than formal classes, and

suggested setting up advisers in mother-and-toddler groups.

She said: “Working through existing clinics and mother-and- toddler groups is a good idea because most people feel quite isolated when they have got children, but to say come along at 7pm at night for a parenting class -- forget it.”

The success of the seminars, described as “fun and interactive”, will be evaluated once they are up-and-running, with the future of the programme dependant on the evaluation.

 

‘Everyone can do with a hand bringing up kids’

CASE STUDY: Margaret Wood, 44, an unemployed mother from Bridgeton in Glasgow, has five children, Christopher, 13, Alexander, 10, Jamie-Lee, six, Charley, four,

and two-year-old James.

I went on the Triple P course to become a better parent, to try and cope with their tantrums. I heard about it through my kids’ nursery.

I was on the course for six weeks and finished two weeks ago and the kids are a lot happier now.

Everyone could do with a hand bringing up their children. I used to discipline them by sending them to their rooms, which I now know is wrong, because they’re happy to be in there with their games, telly and DVD.

Now, if they break the rules, I put them into quiet time. That means that they’re just taken away from what they’re doing for a few minutes. If they sit there quietly, it’s okay, but if they start banging around and making a noise, I send them to time out, which can be to a step or on the sofa, away from the other kids.

It also taught me that quality time doesn’t have to be all day long. Even giving them a few minutes can be enough. So when my youngest comes over to show me a picture when I’m doing the washing up, I tell her it’s a lovely picture and give her a hug.

Just stopping what you’re doing for a minute can be quality time. Triple P also taught me that praise is very important for children.