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With longer days and warmer weather ahead, One You Kent can help put the Spring into your step if you want to lose weight, eat better and move more.

One You Kent supports the national Better Health campaign by encouraging residents that ‘healthy changes start with little changes’ and lots of help is available locally in various ways including healthy walks and activities, group and one-to-one sessions, online and face-to-face interactions with a lifestyle adviser in your area.

“Kent residents are facing increasing health issues from poor key lifestyle behaviours including inactivity and unhealthy eating,” explains KCC Director for Public Health, Dr Anjan Ghosh.

He adds: “Along with smoking and drinking too much alcohol, this could be seeing short, and long term, effects on their emotional and physical health, leading to an increased risk of many types of cancer, heart and lung disease and stroke.

“Maintaining a healthy weight can help to prevent many illnesses but we know that achieving and sustaining a healthy weight can be difficult for lots of people; it is a key public health priority for us to focus on changeable factors and support families. This includes helping them to eat a healthy, balanced, reduced-calorie and sugar diet, and physical activity, at least 20-30 minutes a day of brisk walking.”

Ray and Jacky enjoy joining the healthy walks at Leybourne Lakes. They explain: “It’s good for my health and I enjoy the company. When I retired, I felt really unfit but coming to the walks regularly have really helped my get into shape. If I stopped and did nothing, then I’d probably just seize up.”

So if you want to lose weight and get active, One You Kent is here with lots of free tools and support at www.kent.gov.uk/healthyweight where you can also try the ‘How are You?’ quiz, Easy meals app or Active 10 app, and find the NHS 12 week diet and exercise plan, plus a referral form to speak to a One You Kent advisor.

New online classes are also now available for Kent residents as part of the ShapeUp4Life programme to support people making changes to their lifestyle to lose weight.

Commissioned and funded by Kent County Council, the sessions offer nutrition and exercises classes which are run alongside/as part of existing One You Kent support

services.

The programme is aimed at anybody over 18 with a BMI of 27.5 or higher, designed to help them lose five per cent of their body weight within 12 weeks safely. To find out more about the sessions and access the BMI calculator, go to www.shapeup-4life.com