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Health Jeremy Hunt UK Government

UK government looks to tackle childhood obesity with Health X Hackathon

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By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

May 11, 2016 | 2 min read

Public Health England (PHE) is bringing together digital creatives and health experts to help tackle childhood obesity and encourage young people to be more active.

Public health england hackathon

The government-funded two-day Health X Hackathon will take place in Manchester from today onwards (11 May) and is part a plan to equip the public with a series of digital tools to help them make healthier lifestyle choices.

The hackathon will be supported by secretary of state for health, Jeremy Hunt along with Manchester Digital Council and Tech North. Additionally, children from the coding club at Mesne Lea Primary School will be on hand to share their views on the ideas being generated.

The initiative follows on from the data gathered by PHE's Change4Life Sugar Smart app and 'One You - How Are You’ quiz, which has indicated that over one third of kids aged 10 to 11 are overweight.

In light of increasing public debate around daily sugar intake and the government's proposed sugar tax, PHE said that downloads of it's Sugar Smart app have smashed the two million barrier. The government has, however, highlighted that further measures are needed to help address its finding that just 21 per cent of boys and 16 per cent of girls meet the national recommended level of 60 minutes of physical activity each day.

Sheila Mitchell, director of marketing at PHE, said: "The Health X Hackathon is just one way that we are ensuring we are continually gathering the best ideas, in this case to help children eat more healthily and be more active.

"We hope that these ideas will feed into the development of the next generation of PHEbranded digital solutions," she added.

Health Jeremy Hunt UK Government

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