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The Governments campaign Change 4 Life was launched in Jan 2009. Its objective was to tackle obesity, one of the biggest health challenges the government has had to face.
Almost 1 in 4 adults in England are currently obese, if our health habits go unchecked then by2050, 9 in 10 adults will be overweight or obese. The cost of overweight and obese individuals to the NHS is estimated to be £4.2 billion and is forecasted to more than double by 2050. The cost to the wider economy is £16 billion, and this is predicted to rise to £50 billion per year by 2050 if left unchecked.
In January 2008 the Government published 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England'. £372 million has been made available to implement the strategy, which sets out how the Government will enable everyone in society to maintain a healthy weight.
The five main areas which have been developed to monitor, educate and promote are as follows:
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) involves all children in Reception and Year 6 having their height and weight recorded. The exercise will take place in schools every year. This allows the government to track the progress of these youngsters, record their data and help see what the picture looks like in future years.
Change4Life is a society-wide movement that aims to prevent people from becoming overweight by encouraging them to eat better and move more. The Change4Life advertising campaign began in January 2009 to raise awareness and increase understanding of the issue of obesity.
The Change4Life website provides help, advice and support, a database of local activities and marketing toolkits for local communities.
The website has a large amount of factual material presented in an easy to understand format. This is to encourage people to use the site and not be intimidated about the issues being discussed.
In November 2008, the Department of Health and the Association of Convenience Stores launched a Change4Life pilot in the North East to improve the quality and promotion of fresh fruit and vegetables available in convenience stores. They invested in new chillers and storage areas and provided healthy eating advice to customers and staff. The aim is to recruit 120 stores across the North East by May 2009 and roll out nationally from Spring 2009. Anyone interested in participating in the scheme should contact Stephanie Rice, the Project Coordinator, via the email link below.
Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A cross-government strategy for England included a commitment to invest £30 million between 2008/09 and 2010/11 in a Healthy Community Challenge Fund. The strategy stated that up to £5 million would be given to a small number of interested local areas – badged ‘Healthy Towns’- to build on existing work in their communities and test out their ideas to make activity and healthy food choices easier for people. In November 2008, the nine Healthy Towns were confirmed as: Tewkesbury, Halifax, Thetford, Tower Hamlets, Manchester, Middlesbrough, Dudley, Sheffield and Portsmouth.
The Healthy Food Code of Good Practice, set out in Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives; A Cross-Government Strategy for England, summarises the challenge to all sectors of the food industry to promote healthy eating.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department of Health (DH) have jointly written to food industry leaders and other interested parties setting out plans to assist in delivering the Healthy Food Code of Good Practice.
Problem Solving Obesity
Each of the five sections above represents what is occurring at a national level to influence change in society. The strategies recommended to the individual are also broken down into a handful of key areas as follows and each suggestion is presented as a small, achievable step.
Each of the above areas has a lot more information which ranges from games to make the process of change fun, to downloadable charts to track the family’s progress. There is also a large amount of information on practical solutions and ideas which range from the behavioral through to the factual. There are also a lot of links to the Department of Health’s website, so should you require more serious based information, it is here to educate you. There is information on obesity and diabetes and from this site links to specialist sites with more specific knowledge of particular situations.
ThinQ Fitness Suggests
Taking a look at the following links as they are well worth a read.
ThinQ Fitness Supports
The campaign means cheap swimming and the site downloading a Swim4Life games guide with suggestions for twenty fun games that kids can enjoy in the pool.
Cycling, whether it’s a day to day activity, or an occasional adventure, is a great way to help keep you and the rest of the family healthy. Getting on our bikes more often can help us on the way to making the small changes that can bring short and long term benefits to your health, the environment and your purse. The site offers safety tips and practical biking advice.
We love this one, lots of tips and ideas for wet or dry days. Kids don’t need a gym to be active and have fun – all they need is a place to play and a few ideas for games. This part of the site is packed with ideas which really capture the imagination and
Again such simple ideas, but games galore suggested whilst out running errands or observing nature on the way to and from school. The health benefits, the social interaction between adult and child.
In Conclusion
The contents on the website and links to other resources are thorough and informative. There is content here for grandmothers through to school teachers and in light of the problems facing society a useful tool.
ThinQ Fitness continues to support Change4Life by offering Family Fitness workouts which aim to help shared experiences and improved health to folks at home.
