Carragher launches campaign to get people active

Feb 2 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL football star Jamie Carragher launched a campaign yesterday to make the people of Sefton healthy.

In an area where childhood obesity is higher than the national average, the Liverpool defender is hoping his involvement will encourage kids to get active.

Jamie said:“As someone who is lucky enough to take part in physical activity for a living and who has been physically active all their life, I am pleased to be supporting this strategy, which will help everyone in Sefton, no matter what their age or ability, to lead healthier and more active lives.”

Active Sefton, a partnership between Sefton Primary Care Trust, Sefton Council and other agencies is launching their Physical Activity Strategy.

Linda Turner, consultant in public health at Sefton PCT, said they hoped to target typically inactive groups including young children, teenage girls and the elderly.

The strategy’s aims are to improve awareness of keeping active and keeping healthy, increase opportunities and promote existing facilities, eliminate inequality in access and target certain groups and contribute to making people healthy and aware of their wellbeing.

Linda Turner said: “We are introducing the strategy to combat the local and national problem of inactivity and obesity. Inactivity puts our community at greater risk of health problems including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancers, and diabetes.

“By being physically active we can potentially prevent and assist in treating these conditions and improve our overall physical and mental health and well-being.”