The Healthy Towns initiative forms part of the Government's 400mChange4Life public health campaign (News, 16 October).
The nine local authorities chosen for the Healthy Towns project areDudley, Halifax (Calderdale), Sheffield, Tower Hamlets, Thetford,Middlesbrough, Manchester, Tewkesbury and Portsmouth. The councils havebeen funded for proposals such as Dudley's 'Let's Go Outside', whichencourages families to make the most of outdoor areas by transformingparks, play areas and nature reserves into 'family health hubs'.Middlesbrough has been awarded 4m for a programme of improvedpublic resources for recreation, play, walking and cycling.
To coincide with the launch of the Change4Life campaign, the Departmentof Health also published the results of a study of families' attitudesand behaviours relating to diet and activity. The report, HealthyWeight, Healthy Lives: Consumer Insight Summary, found that only 11.5per cent of parents with overweight or obese children are aware of theproblem, that many families use snacks as rewards, or to appeaseconflict and boredom, and that lack of knowledge, confidence and skillsis the main barrier that stops parents cooking from scratch.
Mr Johnson said, 'The message we received from parents was clear - werecognises that obesity is a big problem, but it's not our problem. Theaim of Change4Life is to help parents understand that obesity is aproblem for all of us and that it causes severe illnesses and prematuredeath. Finger wagging and lecturing won't work, that's why Change4Lifeis designed to be supportive and helpful.'
Further information
www.doh.gov.uk
