Government launches healthy living programme

The Department of Health has announced the launch of a healthy living initiative aimed at assisting UK families to live in a healthier manner.

Research published yesterday by the department and the Medical Research Human Nutrition Centre identified areas where families are believed to need support in the prevention of unhealthy weight gain in younger children.

The report identified barriers to this goal, including limited parental awareness, the belief that healthy lifestyles are too difficult to attain, pressures that undermine the choice of healthy food and the notion that the opportunities for active lifestyles are limited.

Health minister Caroline Flint commented that there were many factors involved in the problem of obesity in children.

“While we have been successful in raising awareness of the importance of good nutrition and exercise, putting that awareness into action has proved more difficult for some children,” she said.

She cited the example of the five-a-day campaign to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables, noting that despite awareness of the message, it was not necessarily being followed.

In related news, the government recently announced a national action plan to deal with the problems of malnutrition in the elderly community in the UK.