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Get healthy with the Guardian

Helen Clifton
24/ 4/2008

GREATER Manchester is one of the unhealthiest areas in the country – and almost one in five people in Middleton are clinically obese.

Across the region, the numbers of people suffering from heart and liver disease are some of the highest in England and Wales.

It’s time we all did something to change these statistics.

This doesn’t have to involve going to the gym everyday or completely changing your lifestyle. Instead, small and steady changes could be all it takes for your health and wellbeing to dramatically improve.

Over the next 12 months, the Middleton & North Manchester Guardian - together with the Greater Manchester Association of Primary Care Trust’s I Love Me campaign - will feature a series of articles to help you make these changes.

Instead of bombarding you with healthy living advice that doesn’t fit in with your lifestyle, we will give you local examples of people who have taken the first step to being healthy, or can help show you how.

Cllr Pat Karney, NHS Director of Smoke Free Greater Manchester, says he wants I Love Me to be the biggest campaign to save lives and permanently improve people’s health ever to hit the region.

"The health statistics for our area are absolutely shocking," he adds.

"We have really got to look at pushing to prevent kids from starting to smoke in the first place.

"We need the help of every parent and adult in Greater Manchester to refer their sons or daughters to our smoking services."

Elizabeth Burns, Public Health Development Advisor for Alcohol, adds that binge drinking is on the increase across Greater Manchester.

"We often hear that alcohol can be good for you, but that is only in men above 40 and postmenopausal women, and even then only if it is one to two units," she says.

"Over-indulging can lead to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, and increased incidences of breast, mouth and bowel cancer.

"This campaign will show people the benefit of doing something early to improve their health, rather than waiting until it is too late."

Positive changes could include eating a little less salt, drinking a few less pints, or making sure your children aren’t exposed to cigarette smoke; getting regularly screened for any health problems, so that you have peace of mind; eating fresh, healthy and affordable food, while cutting down on cigarettes; and ensuring that, no matter how old you are, you enjoy a breath of fresh air and regular exercise.