NHS Has Released a Special Package of Weight Loss Content to Provide Information and Support

Aug. 21, 2009 - PRLog -- London, England, -- NHS Choices, the digital front door to the NHS, has embarked on a public education campaign to provide online help and resources to those wishing to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle. The NHS will provide a number of educational materials through their website. These include articles, videos and tools aimed at advising on ideal weight, healthy diet and good fitness levels.

"Maintaining a healthy weight is a crucial part of overall good health. Keep your weight within the healthy range, and you'll not only feel better, you'll lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and certain cancers," according to an NHS spokesperson. "When it comes to weight, even small improvements can work wonders for your health."

NHS Choices weight loss package ( http://www.nhs.uk/loseweight/ ) offers information on healthy food swaps and how to understand food labels so people can make healthier choices when shopping. There is advice on choosing a healthy diet, and help on how to eat that all-important five fruit and veg a day. The 10,000 steps challenge advises on how people can fit a regular exercise regime into their daily routine to help lose weight and improve overall fitness. Tools such as the Healthy Weight Calculator and the Fitness Self-Assessment Test help people to figure out their body mass index and what more they could be doing to improve their overall fitness level. They can also check to see if they are at risk of diabetes and assess how healthy their diet is.

"While research shows that people may lose weight using a variety of approaches," says Lyndel Costain, nutritionist and spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, "there are common factors that lead to long-term weight loss. And they are all about achieving a healthy diet and active lifestyle in the long term, and not just short-term calorie counting."

About NHS Choices: NHS Choices ( http://www.nhs.uk/ ) is the digital information service of the NHS – an NHS accredited website that gives ordinary people the tools to make better, more informed choices about their treatments, health and well-being. It includes more than 80,000 pages of content, including video, interactive tools, daily news service and lifestyle features. Users can also check and compare hospital and doctors' profiles and performance on-line.

Contact :
Carl Shoben
NHS Choices
Skipton House
London, UK
SE1 6LH
+44 (0) 207-972-1812
DigitalNHS@nhschoices.nhs.uk
http://www.nhs.uk/loseweight/