Families are being encouraged to sign up to Change4Life, a new nationwide lifestyle revolution aiming to get every family to eat well, move more and live longer, in order to halt the rising tide of obesity.

Recent figures from the Department of Health showed that 14.8 per cent of children in the South West are obese, and experts say that without any intervention around 90 per cent of today’s children will be overweight or obese and at risk from serious diseases by 2050.

This shocking prediction is the central message of the Change4Life campaign.

Dr Gabriel Scally, Regional Director of Public Health at NHS South West, said:

“Obesity is an increasing problem, not just nationally, but also in the South West where around 14.8 per cent of children (between the ages of 2 to 15) are now considered obese. This is bad news for their future health.

“This is a serious problem that we all need to face up to, and I would encourage all families to sign up to Change4Life and get help and advice on ways to eat better and be more active to ensure they keep their weight under control.”

Change4Life will help families to understand the harm that fat can cause to their children’s health. It warns that a bad diet and inactive lifestyle can lead to cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

As part of this new movement thousands of local organisations and charities, as well as leading supermarkets and businesses, will be offering extensive support and information to help families, and particularly children, live healthier lives.

Families are also being invited to call 0300 1234567 to register their support and get advice and information on how they can start to make a change.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said:

“Change4Life has a critical ambition. We are trying to create a lifestyle revolution on a huge scale – something which no Government has attempted before.

The extent of the obesity problem demands an ambitious and innovative approach that has not been tried before. We have adopted ideas from successful movements such as Make Poverty History and Comic Relief which involved a wide range of partners, local organisations, commercial companies, charities and, of course, millions of people.

Change4Life is supportive, informative and reassuring – it’s not about telling families what to do and what to eat. We want families to engage with the campaign and understand that obesity is not someone else’s problem – it’s all of our problem.”

More information on the Change4Life campaign and details of activities and facilities available locally can be found at www.nhs.uk/change4life.