DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 11 November 2008
We all need to be
more active and eat more healthily to halt the rising tide of
obesity. If we do nothing, by 2050 90 per cent of today's
children will be overweight and at risk from serious diseases -
that's the message issued today by Health Secretary Alan
Johnson as he launched the Change4Life coalition.
Change4Life is a lifestyle revolution involving thousands of
local organisations and charities which will help mums, dads and
families eat well, move more and live longer. Under the banner
Change4Life, the Government is aiming to galvanise support from
everyone in the country from grass roots organisations to leading
supermarkets and charities.
Through Change4Life, the Government is aiming to reduce the
number of people who are obese or overweight and prevent the
problem escalating to a point where the experts say it is likely
to cost the NHS an estimated £50 billion by 2050.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said:
"Obesity is the biggest public health challenge the country
faces. If we don't take action now we will condemn our
children to reduced life expectancy.
"That's why we are aiming to create a lifestyle
revolution that will help families to eat well, move more and live
longer. We can't start a revolution on our own - we need
everyone from grassroots community clubs to multinational
companies to join us.
"Ten million people visit their corner shops every day and
36 million shop at Asda and Tesco each week - the fact that
grocers and supermarkets are on board means we can really
influence what goes into our shopping trolleys.
"It's unprecedented for supermarkets to join the
Government and pledge to cut prices on healthy food. But this
isn't an exclusive club. Anyone who promises to help families
to be healthier can join. I am today challenging every CEO of
every company who can influence what we eat and how we exercise to
come forward and tell us how they are going to help beat this
national epidemic. Obesity affects us all so everyone must get involved."
More than 12,400 grass roots organisations, charities including
Cancer Research, Diabetes UK and the British Heart Foundation,
Tesco, Asda, PepsiCo, Kelloggs, ITV, the Association of
Convenience Stores and the Fitness Industry Association have
signed up.
Through the Advertising Association the Government is talking to
a number of companies including BSkyB, Kraft and Unilever and is
talking directly with a further 50 organisations.There are no
limits to the number who can participate.
Their commitments include:
* Tesco, whose stores serve 20 million customers per week and
employ 280,000 people, will spread the word on the benefits of a
healthy lifestyle amongst its customers and workforce. Tesco will
run themed Change4Life promotional activity in store on healthier
products under the banner Change4Life 4 Less.
* ASDA, which serves 16 million customers a week and employs
165,000 people, will be actively supporting Change4Life in
communications to customers and colleagues and will run promotions
that encourage healthier eating. ASDA have also committed to
supporting Bike4Life to promote cycling as a fun, safe activity
that all the family can do.
* ITV is pledging to support the Change4Life movement on-screen
and online. For example, in the New Year ITV will be running a
campaign to encourage its viewers to pledge to lose weight, eat
more healthily and take more exercise. Launched on ITV1, the
campaign will include eight weeks of national and regional
activity, tracking viewers' progress in meeting personal
pledges to lead healthier lives.
* Kellogg's, the UK's best selling grocery brand, will
expand the highly successful, non-branded, Breakfast Clubs
programme under the Breakfast4Life umbrella. This project includes
an investment of £100,000 a year for the next 3 years.
Kellogg's aims to create Breakfast Clubs in the 500 most
deprived areas in Britain, and provide access to all children in
the UK by 2013. Kellogg's will support the Swim4Life
programme by providing an additional £240,000 a year.
* PepsiCo will support Play4Life by funding advertising to
promote the benefits of active play and use the wealth of sporting
talent contracted to them. PepsiCo has a portfolio of household
brands that are well placed to support Change4Life. Through
Tropicana for example, they will extend their partnership with
their current breakfast club partner, Magic Breakfast under the
Breakfast4Life umbrella.
* The Fitness Industry Association will get its 2,500 members to
actively promote Change4Life. The FIA will create a Change4Life
promotion for Summer 2009, which will involve members opening
their doors to new exercisers, free of charge, to try a range of activities.
* From this week, Spar, Londis, Costcutter, Premier, Nisa and
Mills Group are taking part in a Change4Life pilot in the North
East to improve the quality and the promotion of fresh fruit and
veg. They are investing in new chillers and storage areas,
providing tips and hints to customers and staff on how to eat more
fruit and vegetables, as well as offering promotions on fruit and
veg. The programme will be rolled out nationally from next spring.
* The Advertising Association's Business4Life coalition has
33 members representing a broad range of commercial partners from
retailers to manufacturers, media, agencies and representative
bodies. They will deliver a media equivalent value of £200 million
of in-kind contribution.
Change4Life means that, from January onwards, families will start
to see new local initiatives providing support, help and advice to
help them live more healthily. For example, there will be healthy
food promotions and recipes in supermarkets, walking campaigns,
cycling groups or free swimming for under 16s and over 60s. This
will be backed up by a major advertising campaign.
Before Change4Life was created, the Department of Health
undertook detailed research to test out what messages would work
with families. That research is published today and shows that:
* parents don't recognise that their children are overweight
- just 11.5 per cent of parents with overweight or obese children
recognise it;
* parents underestimate how much unhealthy food and convenience
food they buy as well as overestimating the amount of activity
their children do;
* only 38 per cent of adults know that obesity can lead to heart
disease and only 6 per cent know about the link of cancer with
being overweight;
* many families use snacks as rewards, as fillers during times of
boredom and to appease conflict;
* parents of older children are more worried about not feeding
them enough and the risk of eating disorders such as anorexia; and
* lack of knowledge, confidence and skills is the main barrier
which stops parents cooking from scratch.
Alan Johnson added:
"The message that we received from parents was clear - we
recognises that obesity is a big problem, but it's not our
problem. The aim of Change4Life is to help parents understand that
obesity is a problem for all of us and that it causes severe
illnesses and premature death.
"Finger wagging and lecturing won't work, that's
why Change4Life is designed to be supportive and helpful."
Notes to editors
1. Anyone who wants to get involved with Change4Life should
register at http://www.nhs.uk/change4life
2. Healthy Weight, Health Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for
England can be found at http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_082378