Campaigners say Change4Life is missing a trick

The Department of Health’s (DoH) Change4Life initiative is a “lost opportunity for government to get the food industry to act responsibly”, according to the Children’s Food Campaign.

The £75M Change4Life initiative, which the government describes as “a lifestyle revolution”, is an attempt to galvanise support from a range of organisations to encourage people to eat more healthily and exercise more.

The main aims, which were outlined in the first of a series of TV adverts aired over the weekend, are to encourage target groups to be aware of the risk of excessive fat intakes, develop healthier eating habits and increase exercise levels. However, there would be “no attempt to demonise particular food groups or companies”, said a DoH spokesman. “The message is everything in moderation and up your activity levels.”

As for the perils of so-called ‘processed foods’, Change4Life also attempts to bust some myths the industry has been struggling to debunk in recent years, notably that fresh food is always best and that ‘processed’ foods are bad for you. The spokesman added: “A lot of processed foods are just as healthy, and sometimes even more healthy than fresh foods.” Likewise, “frozen fruit and frozen vegetables are usually processed within hours of being picked. Because hardly any nutrients get lost in the freezing process they stay very healthy”

Companies, including Kellogg, PepsiCo and the leading supermarkets, have all pledged to get involved via co-branded initiatives including expanding breakfast clubs and swimming programmes (Kellogg), promoting the benefits of active play (PepsiCo) and encouraging cycling (Asda).

While such initiatives were very welcome, food manufacturers participating in Change4Life were effectively getting tacit government endorsement without having to make any meaningful commitments, claimed Richard Watts, coordinator of the Children’s Food Campaign. “The real danger is that we end up with a series of small or meaningless pledges from companies that do not actually improve children’s health, while giving industry the excuse not to act in the areas that really matter.”

He added: “Change4Life is a lost opportunity for government to get the food industry to act responsibly. For a food company, being involved in Change4Life is a big deal; it amounts to tacit endorsement from the government. It is a great shame the government has failed to insist that, in return, companies should do any of the things that it is asking industry for, like reducing junk food marketing to children, using traffic light labelling or making their products healthier.

“The £8M the government has spent on the Change4Life ads is all very well, but it pales in comparison to the amount the food industry spends each year marketing junk food to children.”

His comments came as the Children’s Food Campaign launched a report claiming that school children were being targeted “through the back door” by food manufacturers via teaching materials, an area it claimed was “totally unregulated” - a claim that has been strenuously denied by the government, which says there are strict guidelines governing commercial activities in schools.

However, Watts welcomed the fact that the Change4Life ads did not use a “hectoring” tone and the fact that the government had “exposed just how bad our food culture has become - many parents actually think that a Jaffa cake counts towards your five-a-day”

With a focus on long-term prevention, Change4Life aims to “inspire a society-wide movement that encourages everyone to make changes to their diet and activity levels”, said a DoH spokesman. “We are developing a set of behaviour change goals and messages, such as eating five-a-day, taking 60 minutes activity a day and cutting back on fatty foods.”