Let’s all be
food smart
local supporters’ toolkit
everything you need to help families enjoy
healthier eating
welcome to
be food smart!
In January we’ll be launching a really exciting campaign to inspire adults, children and families
to get healthier by making smarter choices when it comes to eating and drinking. The campaign
is called Be Food Smart.
Although we all want our food to be cheap, easy and tasty – more often than not we choose
ready-made meals, takeaways and reach for unhealthy snacks that all contain lots of fat, salt
and sugar. And too much of these can create dangerous levels of fat in your body that could
lead to cancer, strokes, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Be Food Smart will help people avoid too many hidden nasties with lots of ideas for tasty
alternatives – and it could even help them save money along the way.
We’ve created this toolkit to help you find ways to get adults and children on board with the
campaign and use our tasty meal ideas, handy hints and tips to start eating more healthily.
Download the toolkit at www.nhs.uk/change4life
Life?
New to Change4
us all,
ch aims to help
hi
w
t
en
em
ov
m
ide
e longer.
It’s the nationw
ove more and liv
m
l,
el
w
t
ea
s,
d
Local
but especially ki
the Change4Life
g
in
ad
re
by
re
o
Find out m
de here.
Supporters’ Gui
2
3
being food smart is about
making small changes
Change4Life is all about making small lifestyle changes that add up to big health benefits. And the
Be Food Smart campaign is no different. It’s simply encouraging adults and children to make smarter
choices about the food and drink they put in their bodies each day. This can help prevent diseases
like cancer, strokes, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
We’ve highlighted 4 key behaviours to help adults and children achieve healthier eating;
and of course, a healthier body.
5 A DAY
Eating enough fruit and veg is really important for our health. That’s because
fruit and veg are good sources of vitamins, minerals and fibre. Adults and kids
should be aiming to get a variety of 5 A day, but remember they don’t all have
to be fresh. Frozen, juiced, dried or canned - it all counts!
sugar swaps
We’d never eat straight from the sugar bowl but some food and drinks are
so loaded with the sweet stuff we might as well. Adults, kids and families
could try swapping sugary drinks for no added sugar drinks, like water
or skimmed milk. And switch sweet snacks for fruit or unsalted popcorn.
And why not replace sugary puds with plain low fat yoghurts and fruit?
watch the salt
Many of us enjoy a bit of salt to make things taste better. What we don’t realise
is there’s already a lot of hidden salt in the food we buy every day (even if they
don’t taste salty, like bread, cereal, pizza and some sauce). This means we’re all
eating more salt than we think. So let’s try and get adults and kids to go easy with
ketchup, soy sauce and mayonnaise, and skip the salt next time they tuck in.
cut back fat
We all know too much fat is bad for us. But what we don’t realise is how much
fat is hidden in many of the foods we eat. The really bad fat is saturated fat.
You’ll find it in things like butter, cheese, pies and fatty meats like streaky
bacon and sausages. The good news is it’s easy for adults, kids and families to
be food smart about fat. Choosing lower-fat spreads, lower-fat dairy products,
and leaner cuts of meat such as reduced fat sausages is a great way for them
to start!
4
It’s about eating the right
amount for you!
Being food smart is about eating the right foods our body needs – like including healthier things in
our diet and simply swapping less healthy foods with healthier foods. But it’s also about achieving
other small changes like keeping a close eye on portion sizes. Here are a few tips that can help
adults and children be food smart:
me size meals
Many parents encourage their kids to clear their plates, even when this
means carrying on eating when they feel full up. But when we eat more
than we need, the extra food turns into stored fat. So, many families are
making an effort to serve kid-size portions to their children.
snack check
Many snacks are full of things we shouldn’t eat too much of – such as salt,
fat and sugar – so we want to encourage parents to keep an eye on how
many their children are having. Skipping breakfast often leads to a craving
for snacks later, so filling kids up with a healthier breakfast is a great way
to fill them up for longer.
meal time
Our busy lives mean we often rush, make do and eat on the go. But it can lead to
unhealthier eating habits like snacking and eating fast food, and we miss out on
nutrients. Making time for 3 regular meals a day is really important.
Some breakfast options are healthier than others. But if you’re talking to families
who currently eat no breakfast at all, it’s worth bearing in mind that eating or
drinking something for breakfast is better than having nothing at all.
2000 calories a day
for women
2500 calories a day
for men
Me-size meals for
kids, please
be calorie smart
Calories are really handy for planning how much to eat
and when. It’s a good idea to aim for 400 calories for
breakfast, 600 calories for lunch and 600 for your evening
meal (that includes any drinks or desserts you have with
your meal too). That leaves a few for any healthier snacks.
Use our meal ideas and you’ll be on the right track.
And remember, we don’t need to eat the same amounts.
Women don’t need as many calories as men. And kids need
even less.
5
How can you help families you
work with to be food smart?
Some changes we encourage families to make are more straightforward than others. For example,
most parents feel confident in getting their family to eat breakfast. But it doesn’t necessarily mean
they actually do it. We’ve created a few activities to help the adults, kids and families you work
with, to be food smart throughout the whole day.
Activity 1 - Get going breakfast!
Who’s it for? Groups holding classroom-based sessions, breakfast clubs
or overnight camps. It can also be extended to include follow-up activity
for parents at home.
How does it work? ‘Get going breakfast!’ is a group discussion to help
kids who don’t manage to eat breakfast, think about why they don’t
and how it can affect them.
We can give them tips on how they could get a better start to the day.
How will this help families? The poster included in the toolkit gives
people options they can try. It also has space for them to write in their
own tips so others in their group can get ideas and tell their parents
about them.
rp
Ti
e:
Give it a go with our quick pitta pizzas recipe!
P
Preparing a meal can be just as much fun as eating it,
especially when there’s a little group of you.
r to
rp
r t o Ti
e:
Activity 2 – Quick pitta pizzas
P
Download the poster now!
k n Ti e
:
Co
k n Ti e
:
Co
Ingredients:
What to do:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/Gas
mark 5. Place the pitta breads on a baking sheet.
4 wholemeal pitta breads
4 tsp sun-dried or regular tomato puree
4 mushrooms, sliced
4 tomatoes, thinly sliced
125g ball reduced fat or light mozzarella cheese, sliced
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
Ground black pepper
2. Spread 1 tsp of tomato puree onto each pitta,
then top with the mushrooms, sliced tomatoes
and cheese. Sprinkle with the mixed herbs and
season with black pepper.
3. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is
melted and bubbling. Serve with salad.
6
Activity 3 - Quiz
Often our favourite foods can contain hidden salt, sugar and saturated fat without us being aware.
Change4Life has created a quiz to help test the nation on how food smart they are. Try answering
some of the questions below!
1
e me
Which of thes
?
saturated fat in
2
st
als has the mo
Which of the following
would provide more than
half of your daily maximum
amount of sugar?
chips
er and medium chips
rg
u
b
r
la
u
g
re
A
d
a)
rtion of fish an
b) A regular poperoni pizza
c) A small pep
3
se has th
Which of the
a) A 250ml serving of squash dri
nk
(when diluted with water)
b) A 330ml can of lemonade
c) A 150ml serving of fruit juice
e most salt?
wich
cheddar sand crisps
d
n
a
m
a
h
t
e
k
d
salte
a) Pac
ack of ready
b) A regular p ka masala ready meal
c) Chicken tik
4
Which of the following contains
the most saturated fat?
5
Which of these
sna
contains the mo cks
st calories?
a) A sl
ice of mal
b) 1 x fruit cere t loaf
c) A pack of raisal bar
ins
7
is the
Which of the below
nded
maximum recomme
adult
amount of salt for an
per day?
a) 1 teaspoon
b) 2 teaspoons
c) 4 teaspoons
To try out the Food IQ Quiz visit the
Change4Life Facebook page.
a) A large sausage roll
b) A ham and cheese baguette
c) A scotch egg
6
How many lumps of sugar do you
think are in one can of regular cola?
(Based on a sugar cube = 3g)
a) 11
b) 7
c) 3
8
Which of these has
the most
calories?
a) 2 x sausages and
b) A regular burger mash in a restaurant
c) A macaroni cheeseand chips
Answers: 1 = c 2 = b
3 = a
4 = a
5 = b
6 = a
7 = a
8=a
7
don’t forget to talk about
physical activity too!
Medical evidence suggests we all need to keep an eye on how much energy we burn (through
being active), as well as what we eat if we want to prevent fat building up in our bodies. So when
you talk to families about being food smart, it’s important you remind them of the benefits of
being active too.
Don’t worry if your usual work or activities focus on one area and you don’t feel confident talking
to parents about the other. You don’t need to become an expert in a new subject – all we ask is that
you tell families that both diet and activity levels are important, and sign-post them to where they
can find out more. Or if you want to find out how to include activity sessions, click here.
suggest they
A good place to
e4Life website:
look is the Chang
ange4life
www.nhs.uk/ch
8
Finding more information
Making a Change4Life
Change4Life encourages families to make changes around
diet and physical activity, to give themselves a healthier
future. Read more about these changes, why they’re
important and tips on helping parents make them in the
Change4Life local supporters’ guide here.
Talking about Change4Life
Our research shows that some ways of talking about the issues surrounding
Change4Life go down better with parents than others. Get tips on how to
explain things to parents, plus more ideas for ways you can support the
campaign, in the Change4Life local supporters’ guide here.
Breakfast club
If you’re not already involved in a breakfast club and would like to find out more, or are keen to
set up your own breakfast club, visit www.continyou.org/breakfastclub
You’ll find everything you need to know as well as how-to guides to help you run activities, menus
using in-season foods and their monthly Breakfast Bulletins containing all the latest news and tips
to help kids get the best start to the day.
9
Find all the be food smart
resources you’ll ever need!
Are you ready to start helping families be food smart? There are lots of resources available to get you
started – including posters, leaflets and activity sheets. Download the ones you want, here.
It’s worth noting that you can also find lots of other tool kits online including Walk4Life, Breakfast4Life
and more!
If you haven’t already registered as a local supporter, please do, and we’ll then be able to tell you when
new toolkits are available.
Official Change4Life brand assets
Once registered as a local supporter you’re also allowed to use the Change4Life and sub-brand logos,
typefaces and illustrations on your own materials. If you’re not already registered, click here.
Contact us
The ‘partners & supporters’ area of the website has information,
ideas and resources for local supporters including:
• case studies
• partner tools
• FAQs
• useful links
Go to www.nhs.uk/change4life
and click on ‘partners & supporters’.
Not online? Call the local supporter helpline
on 0300 123 3434*
* Calls to 03 numbers should cost no more than geographic
01 or 02 calls, and may be part of inclusive minutes subject
to your provider and your call package. We’re open from
9am to 8pm, 7 days a week.