Reaching for the office fruit box instead of chocolate or crisps could help to beat the middle-aged spread, according to a new government health campaign to be launched this weekend.

Almost one in four British adults are now obese, according to official figures.

But ministers are concerned that those in the 45 to 65 age bracket are too set in their ways and lack the motivation to tackle the problem.

Now the Change4Life campaign is switching focus from children and young families in a bid to challenge older people to shape up and get healthy.

Under the slogan "Swap it, Don’t stop it", the campaign aims to show how people can become fitter and healthier without having to radically change their lifestyle.

A series of suggested ‘swaps’ include replacing chocolate snacks with fresh fruit, reducing meal portion sizes and taking part in sport rather than watching it on television.

For example, an apple contains on average 70 calories and zero fat plus fibre and vitaims A and C, while a Mars bar contains 240 calories, nine grams of fat – and no essential vitamins and minerals.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Office Fruit Blog-2010. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.