To support the public in making these changes, Public Health England has launched its latest Better Health new year campaign to encourage the nation to work towards a healthier lifestyle, whether it’s losing weight, getting more active, looking after their mental wellbeing, or quitting smoking.
The campaign offers support through a variety of tools and apps, including the updated NHS 12 Week Weight Loss app. This comes as currently 28% of adults in England are living with obesity and 36% are overweight.
The survey revealed that 2020 and the impact of the pandemic saw people’s behaviours change, including:
Public Health Minister Jo Churchill, said: “There is no doubt 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted particularly the impact obesity can have on some people's health and health outcomes.
“We know many people want to make changes for a healthier lifestyle and we want to help them. So the Better Health campaign provides a range of tools, like ‘Couch to 5K’, to support people in their choices. This, together with the government’s world-leading obesity strategy, will help motivate and support everyone to take up healthier routines in 2021.”
You can read more about the Public Health England survey on their website.
The Better Health campaign provides a wide range of free NHS tools and advice to support healthier habits, including suggestions on how to increase physical activity, make healthier food choices, lose weight, improve mental health and quit smoking.
The campaign includes new wide scale national TV, radio and social advertising. This year, Better Health is also working in partnership with a number of weight management and physical activity partners who are providing both free and exclusive discounted offers. Alongside the advertising campaign, PHE has released a new film featuring households from across the country discussing their health journey in 2020 and their motivations for the new year.
The campaign targets all adults over 18, with a focus on those aged 40 - 60. There will be a particular emphasis on those groups who are most affected, including those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and those with long-term health conditions.
Search ‘Better Health’ or visit nhs.uk/betterhealth for free tools and support to help you make healthy changes.
To find more ways to help you stay active you can visit: https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/get-active/
There are also tips, ideas and inspiration on our Get Active at Home pages
You can find real stories of how women have been getting active in our #WomensWinterWorkouts blog posts
