By Julia Forbes RD

Change4Life is the new society-wide campaign developed by the Department of Health. But what is it all about, how can you find out more and what role can HCP’s play in this campaign? Click here to find out more.

Change4Life, a society-wide campaign, has been developed by the DH to change the lives of families in England by improving diet, exercise and attitude to good health.

The aims of this campaign are to target young families and action changes to modern life instead of pointing the finger at parents. If plans of this nature are not implemented it has been predicted that 90 percent of today’s children could be overweight or obese by 2050.

Families who join will receive a welcome pack containing a handbook full of tips for healthy shopping and cooking as well as ideas on how to inspire the kids to get moving. For example; easy recipes, a snack check chart, crosswords and wordsearch. The pack also contains a 5 a Day sticker chart which includes one re-stickable cart for up to 4 family members and a whole variety of stickers depicting foods and activities to encourage the whole family to eat their 5 a Day and get moving. It’s easy to join, just sign up on the change4life website at www.nhs.uk/change4life or call 03001234567.

The website promotes ‘8 easy ways’ people can change4life. You can also find out which food myths are, well, myths; tips and advice for pregnancy; activities that are available in your local area; a free action plan designed to work with your needs and links to other healthy living sites such as the NHS 5ADay, Diabetes UK, FSA’s eat-well or NHSC’s live-well websites.

A huge emphasis has been placed on the importance of health care practitioners and their role in making change happen. Many who work in the NHS will be the first point of contact for young families with at risk children. All healthcare professionals in England will be informed of the Change4life campaign. However, involvement will be dependent on a health professional’s area of work. Those who have regular contact with families who either have or are at risk of weight issues may want to know more. Resources are being developed for the workforce and consumers, for those who would like to see long term change. Leaflets, posters and activity sheets can be viewed, downloaded or ordered for free by HCP’s from the DH website or by calling 0300 123 1002 and more information about supporting and partnering Change4life can be found on their website.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_092029

For those who already run healthy living activities to combat obesity, alignment to this movement may be as simple as adding the Change4life logo to existing materials, so that they are co-branded. Health professionals are also encouraged to develop new initiatives in line with the Change4Life plan.  

A set of Change4Life Principles and Guidelines for Government and the NHS have been developed.The guidelines include instructions on the use of the main Change4Life logo, sub brands (such as walk4life, cook4life and swim4life) and the potential to create a sub brand for your own healthy living initiative. They are available to download from the Department of health website. www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_089230 
A hard copy is available from DH’s Publication Orderline. www.orderline.dh.gov.uk/ecom_dh/public/home.jsf

You can find out more about Change4life at www.nhs.uk/change4life or www.dh.gov.uk/change4life