A major new five-year public health awareness campaign to set families - and in particular, children - on the path to a healthier future has been launched this week by a multi-agency grouping of safefood, the Department of Health and the Public Health Agency.
With a quarter of children in the North aged 2-15 years reported recently as being overweight (17%) or obese (8%)*, the new “START” campaign is set to take a fresh approach to tackling an issue which continues to stack up serious health problems for the next generation.
The START campaign has been developed with the input of parents, health professionals and community educators. It takes a realistic and practical approach which acknowledges that the solutions to tackling overweight and obesity are many, that even small steps can add up to a big result and that every sector has a role to play in addressing this important health issue.
Through multi-layered implementation, the campaign recognises that a society-wide movement is needed to inspire and support parents in their efforts to adopt and stick to healthy lifestyle habits. START seeks to help families in taking that first step and ongoing steps for their children’s health by starting with one daily win, and encouraging them to persist, no matter how often life and the environment intervenes to derail their efforts.
The habits it wants parents to adopt are clear and simple: drink water with meals; add fruit and / or vegetables to meals and snacks; limit sweet treats to occasions; cut down on screen time; give children child-sized portions and plenty of play / activity and sleep time. A half hour less of screen time daily is a win. Moving from two pieces of fruit and veg a day to three is a win. Confining sweet breakfast cereals to the weekend is progress.
Behavioural problem
Launching the campaign, Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland, Dr Michael McBride, said: “Unhealthy lifestyle behaviours have become commonplace in our society and these are impacting negatively on our children’s health. This campaign aligns with our Fitter Future for All Framework 2012-2022, whose overall aim is to empower the population of Northern Ireland to make healthy choices, reduce the risk of overweight and obesity-related diseases and improve health and well-being, by creating an environment that supports a physically active lifestyle and a healthy diet.”
Prof Ian Young, Chief Scientific Advisor to the Department of Health (NI), continued: “We must work together to deliver a consistent approach across all relevant sectors including schools, early years settings, hospitals and GP surgeries to help parents to feel both supported and empowered to make these changes lifelong and lasting"
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