This March, the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Public Health Team developed and launched a new social media campaign alongside the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board titled, ‘Healthy Start, Healthy Future’. The campaign aims to support parents, carers and children to live healthier, happier, active lives and to improve their all-round wellbeing.
The campaign is designed to provide families living in Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, or Merthyr Tydfil who have a child under 5 with ideas and information on how to play more, eat well and improve the overall health of their family.
At a time where young children are surrounded by technology, as well as high fat and sugary foods, it is more important than ever to break the cycle of unhealthy eating and low activity levels. It is always easier to create healthy habits from a young age, so get involved with the new campaign and make a start on building healthier habits for your family.
This campaign offers some great suggestions on how to keep your child active and healthy, ideal for the warmer months and long summer holidays ahead. Movement Mascot ‘Active Annie’ and the other campaign characters can be found on the Healthy Start, Healthy Future social media channels (linked below) to help guide families in making positive lifestyle changes.
The two-year campaign will also be promoting local and national initiatives and groups that everyone can get involved with. There may be a fantastic support group on your doorstep that you don’t know about – Healthy Start, Healthy Future might help you find them! There are so many useful resources available across Bridgend, RCT, and Merthyr Tydfil, and Healthy Start, Healthy Future can help to make them easier to find.
They want you to also let them know what is happening in your local area, to promote eating well and moving more, so that they can pass this information to other families. Contact them at Cwmtaf.PHT@wales.nhs.uk to give information they may be able to share.
Shelley Powell, Dietetic Professional Manager for Public Health, has been working with Cwm Taf on the key nutritional messages for the campaign and says: “It is a great opportunity to engage with our families and support access to local schemes that encourage children to eat well, play, laugh, grow, and learn new skills. As an adult, making small and simple lifestyle changes can be a real challenge, but what we expose our children to in those early years goes on to build their daily habits, future health and wellbeing for a whole life time. Working with children and families has the potential to build a whole generation of healthier, happier children and that’s what we aim to do here in Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB.”
Follow the campaign on Facebook Healthy Start, Healthy Future and Instagram @healthystart.healthyfuture to find out more about how you can get involved in improving the physical, mental, and emotional health of both you and your child.