‘Better Health Sheff’ campaign launch

A new campaign to help make it easy for people to make small and simple changes to improve their health launches this week in Sheffield.  The Better Health Sheff campaign has been developed to make it as easy as possible for people to improve their health. It brings together eating well, moving more, Smokefree Sheffield and feeling better.

It supports the national NHS Better Health campaign and has been tailored to provide local support and resources locally.   

Nationally research has shown the extent to which Covid-19 had on people’s eating and physical activity habits, leading to weight gain.  Almost over half a stone (4.1kg) was gained on average by those who put on weight, with 1 in 5 (21%) reporting putting on a stone or more. In adults aged 35 to 65 years old, the average weight gain for those who put on weight rises to over 10lbs (4.6kg). Unhealthy eating habits, like snacking and comfort eating, were reported as the main contributor to weight gain during the pandemic for nearly half (46%) of those who reported gaining weight.

For smokers, although over 1 million people have given up since Covid-19 hit, with 41% of quitters stating it was a direct response to the pandemic, a YouGov survey shows that some smokers have increased the amount they smoke and their likelihood of quitting has decreased. Lockdown also saw an increase in second hand smoke exposure for children at home.

Health inequalities were highlighted as a result of the pandemic and certain health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, increased the risk of poorer outcomes from Covid-19 and are more common among certain ethnic groups.

Greg Fell, Director of Public Health in Sheffield welcomed the campaign saying: “There’s never been a better time to look after your health which is why we’re launching a local Better Health Sheff campaign. Small and simple changes today could be your first step towards you being more healthy whether you want to lose weight, get active and boost your mood, quit smoking or switch to vaping there’s lots of free support in Sheffield to help you.

“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the BAME Public Health Inequalities Group who recommended a local campaign and helped us to develop it, and the local people who volunteered to be in the materials.  The group have been instrumental in helping us understand local communities needs and have worked tirelessly to support people throughout the pandemic.

“We’d be grateful if organisations who want to support the campaign by sharing information through their own channels could contact us for a Partner Toolkit. There’s so much that we can all do to help ourselves and each other stay healthy and well.”

Alison Teal, Executive Member for Sustainable Neighbourhoods, Wellbeing, Parks & Leisure said: “We now need everyone’s help to get Better Health Sheff messages out into communities. We know that there are excellent services in communities that support the ways that people can get healthy and stay healthy. Talking about local services in one campaign will hopefully mean that people will find it easier to access them and find what they are looking for.”

Resources

The campaign includes videos, leaflet and other materials at www.sheffield.gov.uk/betterhealth 

Partner organisations can access the campaign materials by emailing communications@sheffield.gov.uk.