A new Government initiative is being launched at the beginning of January. Its aim? To put an end to England's snowballing child obesity epidemic. Without positive action, experts predict nine in ten of today's kids will be either overweight or obese by 2050. The Change4Life movement aims to avert that outcome by offering clear advice and support via community resources, guidance from local health professionals, web tools (like this one!) and TV programmes.

The pressures of modern living means that many of us rely too much on convenience foods and don't have opportunities to be active – with poor diets and sedentary lifestyles as the result. We need to change the way we live and our attitudes to food and activity if we're going to create a healthier, happier future for our children and ourselves. Log on to our webchat with TV parenting expert, Professor Tanya Byron to get the inside track on the everyday steps we can take to bring it about.

Tanya will guide you through an overview of the many ways in which the huge Change4Life movement will operate. She'll also be clueing you up about the top tips the movement is encouraging families to apply to their diets and lifestyles to help children eat well, move more and live longer. From 'sugar swaps' to 'me size meals' to 'snack checks' and more, they add up to fun-to-follow advice that's aimed at keeping families fighting fit. Tanya will also be answering your questions online.

H: Host, Glen Thompsett
T: Professor Tanya Byron

H: Hello and welcome to the Healthcare Show, I'm Glen Thompsett. Now then, with the pressures of modern living, it's sometimes tough to ensure we eat well and lead active lifestyles. When it comes to food it's often easier to grab the convenience of mass produced products, and with the lure of computer games, the internet and television it's not always easy to get those kids up, out and most importantly active. Well, joining me today to talk about this and offer some hints and tips on how you can lead a healthier life, to the benefit of you and the family this year, I'm joined by parenting expert Professor Tanya Byron, welcome to the show Tanya. Nice to see you

T: Hello

H: Now don't forget of course this is a live webchat so if you've got any questions for Tanya today, please drop them through to us. You can literally fill in that little box at the bottom of your screen on your computer screen there, hit the send button and those questions will come directly through to us here in the studio, and then I can put those questions to Tanya. Before we get chatting with Tanya today I want to show you this – Top Tips for Top kids, the campaign that's running on the television at the moment, Change 4 Life, really encouraging, particularly the youngsters to get more active. Have a look, just to remind you

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Once upon a time, life was pretty simple. It could be hard, the food was pretty fast, but it could be fun. If we caught our mammoth. Or bison. Or whatever. Then, gradually, life changed. In many ways it got easier. Nobody had to run around for their food, or anything else much for that matter. Until one day we woke up and realised that 9 out of 10 of our kids would grow up to have dangerous amounts of fat build-up in their bodies, which meant they'd be more likely to get horrid things like heart disease, diabetes and cancer, and many could have their lives cut short. So we thought, that's not more of a life, that's less of a life, and that's terrible, because we love the little blighters. Maybe we should get together with our kids and eat better. Move more. Live longer. And Change 4 Life. And we all lived happily, not exactly ever after, but more ever after than we had done. To find out how you can Change 4 Life, search online for Change 4 Life

H: So I'm sure you're very familiar with that particular campaign. You can pick up these little leaflets by the way all over the place in supermarkets, very, very handy leaflet – top tips, sugar swaps, all those sorts of things. Tanya is with us, Tanya Byron, nice to see you. The government have launched this particular initiative, Change 4 Life. Why now, it seems possibly a little bit too late doesn't it?

T: Well certainly we've known about the worrying increase in childhood obesity for a while and we read about it a lot, it's reported on a lot. Recently the foresight report to government highlighted that the trend is extremely worrying in the sense that it's estimated that by 2050, 9 out of 10 of today's children will have problems either being overweight or obese

H: 9 out of 10?

T: 9 out of 10, so 9 out of 10 adults ostensibly will be overweight or obese, which you know has massive implications both in terms of health, we're looking at things like cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, but also financially in terms of lost productivity in terms of work, and also in terms of the health service. It's estimated that what is costing us now £4 billion will cost £50 billion which is half of the NHS yearly budget, so it could be both expensive but also costly in terms of health

H: So, what can we do? Is it a question of changing your diet radically or slowly like a gear change, getting out there, exercising more frequently – what should we do?

T: Well I think what we have to do is be realistic. I mean this is the time of year, new year, when everybody's saying right I'm going to be completely healthy, I'm going to stop smoking, drinking and everything, and of course we know we have great resolutions and then within –

H: Never last

T: That's right because we're not realistic in terms of how we change our behaviour. And I think, you know it's really important to say, Glen, that this isn't about blaming children or blaming families, this is to say that you know realistically we know we live time-starved lives, it's very easy to fall into patterns of convenience food, children don't play out so much, you know we're more anxious about our children playing outdoors so they have less physical activity in their lives, there's the television, there's the video games as you said in your introduction, so we're more sedentary and we're not eating such nutritional diets. So really it's just taking some very, very simple steps to try and adjust that slowly over time, so that eventually they become a new part of a family lifestyle, but to do it in a way that's manageable for a family

H: But if you've got a parent who doesn't really want to lose that weight, is quite happy with convenience foods, you know popping something in from the microwave, from the fridge into the microwave, they're not going to educate their children are they? If mum and dad are living like that, how will the children change their ways?

T: I think that's a really good point, and obviously what we know in terms of obesity in families is it tends to run in families because feeding habits and food habits are picked up within families, so obese children or overweight children often have obese or overweight parents. I think the campaign is very much targeted around children because the statistic is 9 in 10 in 2050 of today's children being overweight or obese, is very frightening, and it needs to be said and it needs to be thought about, but obviously these children, these future adults have parents now, so it is a whole family initiative, it is a whole community imitative, we have a number of partnership organisations working together with families, with adults and with children, so you're right it's everybody

H: Absolutely. Ok we've got questions coming in thick and fast here, thanks very much for sending us those questions, let's get them to Tanya. "With the winter months setting in, it's hard to pull my son away from his game console. Any advice?" So says John. I mean that's a good point, but the other thing of course with game consoles, we've got one of these interactive games, you know the Nintendo and I know PlayStation have got them now – you can actually have exercises, playing bowls and playing tennis and things. But how do you, if you've just got an ordinary computer game, get the kids away from it?

T: Well how do we get our kids to you know move away from things we want to get them to move away from because they're dangerous, we say don't do it. I mean I think we can't underestimate the fact that as parents we can say no, and it might be a bit of a struggle, but if then the sort of reward is something that's been fun for the family, why not try it? I mean you know it is cold, public swimming pools are open and they're quite warm, but if you don't fancy swimming,being rugged up, going for a nice walk or and ending it having a nice hot chocolate somewhere or a nice drink somewhere, there are many ways we can do it. I think it's a mindset but I think it's about children also being encouraged to think about different ways of having fun with the family, and it's easy for kids to stay sitting down and doing, you know their video games, but it's easy for us as parents sometimes to let them do it. So I think it's about everybody shifting a mindset and actually saying right, we're going to try something different and we're going to have a laugh doing it

H: Ok. Got another question here from Clare, "when it's cold outside, how can I tell my kids to eat fruit when all I want to do is eat comfort food?" Fish and chips and things like that

T: Well I guess you could stew the fruit couldn't you? And there are lots of kind of comforting foods that are really healthy as well – potatoes are healthy, baked potatoes are healthy, they can be very comforting. I understand, particularly at this time of year it's very easy for us to sort of lay down the fat if you like, it's – in a sense you could say it's almost instinctive. But this isn't about really seasonal adjustments, this is about lifestyle adjustments, and I think if we do have children who are clearly becoming overweight or are overweight, it's something that has to start from now, whatever the weather or however cold it is outside

H: I guess a good way is to get the kids to say to mum and dad, come on mum and dad, let's do something about this, let's change, let's change what we eat. Could kids educate their parents?

T: Well today as part of the campaign I've actually done quite a lot of press and I was lucky enough earlier on in the day to talk to two families where the children have had massive improvements in their diet and in their fitness and health. And it's really interesting when you talk to the children, the children themselves were saying we really want to do this, we wanted to go out walking more, we wanted to be more active, we love it that mum and dad now come swimming with us on the weekend or we love it that we go and play badminton as a family. You know, we do find it's fun to cook together, we have our yummy foods, we don't feel like we're being deprived of anything, so children actually are often the voice of reason in all of this, and will be very happy and up for change if they feel that it's positive, that the whole family's behind it and that everybody can do it together

H: With this Change 4 Life campaign that the NHS have kicked off, is it a question – are they telling people to change their life completely or to do a slow gear change, still live, enjoy eating what you enjoy, you know the odd portion of fish and chips, the odd steak. Are you telling people to completely cut that sort of diet out completely?

T: No not at all, this is about balance, this is about finding a balance in life and I think the message is that the pendulum has maybe swung a little bit too far in the direction that is taking the balance away from what's healthy. This isn't about everybody becoming, you know super fit exercise you know nuts, going out, jumping around, running all the time and living you know very specifically high, healthy foods. There are some people who choose to live their lives like this, but this is about being more balanced, about looking at a healthy weight, about having a healthy weight within a body mass index, and on the NHS gov website you can find the calculator so you can calculate your body mass index and you can see whether it falls within a level that's healthy for your age and for your height and so on for your gender. So this isn't about saying we all have to look a certain way and eat a certain way, this is about saying what steps can we take to improve our health, but particularly the health of our children because we don't want them to become the obese adults of the future who will have health problems, who will live you know less long, and this is stuff that we want to stop now, so this is about prevention as much as anything else

H: Ok, another question coming in here from Charlie, he says "my 5 year old boy is football mad and is quite active, but how can I ensure my little girl gets the same level of exercise?" I mean I've got two lads, teenage lads, both football mad so personally I haven't got a problem, they're out all the time exercising, they've been on their bikes when they're younger, older one's now into his car, but with this particular question from Charlie he's got a girl, how can the girls get active?

T: Well one doesn't want to be sexist about exercise and some little girls love playing football, but I think in the main you know there are, particularly when children are young, you do see gender differences in exercise. Little girls like dance, little girls like gymnastics, little girls like swimming, so I think it's about understanding your child and thinking, you know, what would they like to do, but you never know, this little girl could be a budding football star of the future herself, but I think it's about understanding your child and helping them with you work out together what would be fun for them

H: Ok, from Sue here, question, thanks for your question Sue – "how can I be more efficient with my time so to allow time for cooking fresh food and fitting in exercise?" It's a question of working out a bit of a timetable I would have thought isn't it?

T: Oh you know Sue if – I'm a working mum, maybe you and I could try and work this one out together! I mean it is a struggle sometimes, you know and I'm with Sue as am other myself, you've worked all day, the kids have been at school, everybody gets home, everybody's tired, you know it's quite easy sometimes just to, you know, as you were saying earlier, get the processed food out, the convenience food out, or even to order a take-away. But fundamentally I think what we have to recognise is this is important time, this is important time like finding the time to read your child a bedtime story, or finding the time to give them a nice warm bath, these are essential bits of time for healthy development for our children, not just in terms of their physical health, but also emotionally and mentally it's good for them and it's good for us as a family, so I suppose it's about prioritising and working out, you know what can wait and what's important, and I would say finding the time to do this, to cook a good meal with the kids as much as for them, would be time well spent

H: Ok. Time of year as well isn't it, this time of year when you've finished work, you've finished all you want to do is get home –

T: In the bath

H: Sit by the fire, just relax

T: Absolutely

H: Watch the telly. You don't really want to get up and go out again do you really? It's just a question of pushing yourself to do something positive

T: That's right, but what we know from the partners that we've got in this campaign, so we've got partners in the food industry, big brands are very much part of this campaign through their brand products through to their consumers, and in the big supermarkets like I said, Asda and Tescos where there are recipe leaflets, there's information guides, there's in-store branding and packaging, so you can actually choose the foods, and there's a lot of advice and tips and help around. Quick and easy nutritious meals that don't cost a fortune. So this isn't about becoming a cordon bleau chef in your family, this is about actually looking at the healthy options like the jacket potatoes, like the meat and salad in pitta, the things that are not too difficult to make, that are delicious but are nutritious and it's about just making those very simple shifts. It's not about having to go off and re-train as a gastro chef or anything

H: Ok. Another question here from Polly, she says to you today "I'd like to get out, I'd like to get more active with the kids, but I don't know where to start. How can I find out what's going on in my local area?"

T: Well one really good thing in the Change 4 Life campaign is the website. The Change 4 Life website which you can find at www.nhs.co.uk/change4life, but if that's too much to take in, just put Change 4 Life in your search engine and you'll find it

H: We'll pop that web address up for you at the end of this program as well so –

T: And remember that it's a "4" not a "for" – it's the number 4, Change 4 Life. At the website you can put in your postcode and it'll give you a huge amount of information about places local to you whether you're looking for information about fitness or information about places where you know you can go and get advice about feeding and nutrition, there's a huge amount of information which you can find in your local areas. So for this particular lady whose asked the question, use our website and that should be able to give you a lot of, a lot of good advice. We've also got a freephone number which people can call 0300 1234567

H: As easy as that?

T: As easy as that

H: Simple

T: Come on, you can even say that, go on Glen! And that number, you can speak to someone. Because there are some people who feel a bit intimidated, a little bit shy to kind of go to the gym or go to the health visitor, they might feel embarrassed. So you can make a call, it's – you know, you're down the phone, just give your first name, you know you don't have to identify yourself, but there is somebody who can give you tailor-made advice for you and your family, won't judge you, just wants to help

H: That's a good point because a lot of people are embarrassed to go to the gym –

T: That's right

H: The first time. It's expensive for a lot of folks, they can't afford it. There's a lot of natural exercise you can get into, start doing a bit of walking, as you suggested, you know cycle riding. If you're unsure, if you're really obese at the moment and you're not sure whether your heart can take it, check it out with your doctor first I guess

T: Absolutely

H: And then go off and try the bike

T: That's right

H: But there's lots of natural exercise that you can do isn't there?

T: Absolutely, I mean there's the Walk to School weeks that have been going on for a long time, there's the walking buses that a lot of schools do now for children, get off the bus one stop earlier and just do that last bit yourself. Take the stairs instead of the lift, there's lots of things that can be done. Easy not to do them because we're always rush, rush rushing, but actually we can find that the investment of time in those things will make such a difference to us and our children in terms of health and emotional well-being, that we'll wonder why we didn't do it before

H: Absolutely. Liz says here "if I'm worried about my daughter's weight, who should I talk to? I don't want her to feel embarrassed."

T: I think that's a really, really good question. We – it isn't about stigmatising children, this isn't about making children feel like the odd one out, and we do know that children with weight problems can be the target of harsh behaviour at school and even sometimes bullying from other children. If you have concerns Liz I'd say talk to the school nurse if you feel comfortable doing that, or talk to your GP, speak to the practice nurse in your GP surgery or even your health visitor if you still have a relationship with her. Again use our website to look for local voluntary organisations which can support you as well as through the health service, but I think it's very important that we're not saying that these children need to be singled out and targeted, because it's a very important point Glen that when we look at this it's not just overweight children that are the problem, there are some children who look a seemingly healthy weight who can also have quite high levels of fat internally building up, so it doesn't always show on the outside what's going into a child and the way it's being deposited, so we shouldn't be stigmatising overweight children here, it's about the health of all children

H: Is cholesterol a problem when you're young as well, or does it only affect older people?

T: This come on as you get older, but obviously you know eating habits and things are laid down from very young, and you know it can start to build very quickly

H: Ok. Paul's been in touch with us, Paul thanks for your message. He says "I read that you're supposed to give kids smaller portions, but mine say they're hungry. Surely it's important to keep them full and then they'll have the energy to build it all off?"

T: Well I think if your children, if Paul's children say that they're full, sorry if they're hungry and they want more, and looking at them you can see that they're a healthy weight and so on for their size and they're children that are active, then clearly their little engines need more energy to be able to burn be3cause they're active. A really good tip for parents who are unsure about portion control is if you make a fist, the size of your fist is generally the size of your stomach, so you know if I have a small child and I'm giving them the same portion that I eat, and obviously they get used to that portion, you know their body gets used to that portion, they'll eventually eat more and more

H: Oh ok

T: But put their fist next to yours and you'll see that actually the capacity of their stomach is much smaller, so it's better to give smaller portions and encourage children to ask for more than to give huge portions and then to make children eat everything on their plate

H: Ok, alright. For anybody who's looking in today and wanting to change their lifestyle, what's the easiest way to go about it? What advice would you say for that family who want to change the way they live their life? Dietary and exercise-wise – what's the first steps they should make?

T: I think to start from the positives, look at what you already do, that is healthy and I think all families can find something that they do that's healthy together, that's fun together, and I think build on that. So start from what you know you enjoy, use our website the Change 4 Life website, phone our freephone number as I said, get advice from there. Set some family goals. Just even if it's just to say that we are going to do an hour a day more exercise on the weekend as a family. What do we do? And everybody can write what they want to do on a piece of paper, put it in a hat and people can pull it out. Make it fun, make it enjoyable. Support each other in terms of what foods we like to eat. Look at the recipe cards that are – some of our partnership supermarkets are offering. Go to the free fitness sessions that are being set up by our partners in the fitness industry. There are some gyms that are offering free fitness taster sessions. There's a whole range of things that can be done, be creative, use – as I said use our website, put your postcode in, you'll be surprised at what you can find to do

H: And the good thing is once you've started that you'll feel positive and want to increase that won't you, that sort of workload if you like

T: Yes

H: One question here from Sarah, our final question on the program today to Tanya. "My daughter is overweight, and I've noticed mood swings. Is there a link?"

T: Well what we know in terms of exercise is that exercise causes us to release endorphins, which make us feel really good. Children who are overweight sometimes have problems sleeping as well as other behaviour problems, and a lack of sleep can cause mood swings, and obviously if you're overweight it's not healthy for you, it puts strain on you, you're not getting enough exercise, you're not getting enough oxygen and that's going to have an impact on how you feel in terms of your mood and your behaviour. So clearly this isn't just about a physical thing, this is about a mental thing, an emotional thing, and certainly we do find when children eat more healthily they lose their extra weight, they're more physically active, they're feeling more positive about themselves, they're achieving more in school because they have more energy to do so, the feedback they're getting from people is positive, you get children who are much happier

H: So get up, get out, get active I guess the message has to be doesn't it?

T: And be happy

H: And be happy as well, alright. Thanks to Tanya Byron, thank you very much for joining us today

T: Thank you

H: Thank you for watching and do remember you can visit the website that Tanya's been talking about today, it's nhs.co.uk/change4life. That's the number 4, 4 life, so nhs.co.uk/change4life. And that address of course is on your screen right now. From all of us here, thanks for watching and goodbye