BMI4Life Campaign Launches

LighterLife reveals secret to taking years off your looks and feeling 20 something forever: LighterLife and The Stroke Association launch BMI4Life Campaign (10 – 23 May 2010)

10 May 2010 London: Today LighterLife has announced that they hold the secret to taking years off your looks, adding years to your life and feeling 20 something for the rest of your days, and with the launch of the BMI4Life campaign they plan to let you in on the secret too.

The secret to not only looking younger and being healthy inside and out, amounts to three simple little words: Body Mass Index (BMI). Obesity reduces life expectancy on average by 11 years and is responsible for 9,000 premature deaths a year*, making reaching and maintaining a healthy BMI the key to living a long, healthy and vibrant life.

Maintaining a healthy BMI means that a 40 year old can look more youthful, feel like they’re in their twenties and have more energy to do all the things they love – whether that’s running around with the kids, spending more quality time with friends or just giving that special someone a little more attention.

75% of people don’t realise what a healthy BMI is and a shocking 1.7million people are unaware that they have an unhealthy and potentially dangerous BMI.

According to the Clinical Trial Service Unit, each incremental rise in BMI above the healthy range can increase the risk of premature death. From literally dropping dead as a result of heart failure and stroke, to helping cancers to grow faster, being seriously overweight can have a serious impact on health including:

• Risk of dementia
• Impotence
• Asthma and other breathing difficulties
• Liver disease
• Gout
• Lower back and knee joint pain

And that’s only on the inside. Being overweight and unhealthy also has a huge impact on a person’s looks as it affects the skins elasticity, hides those cheekbones, and makes people dress older as many are forced to buy clothes that fit rather than those that are fashionable.

Dr David Haslam, Chairman of The National Obesity Forum comments: “I see it with my overweight patients all the time: reducing BMI to a healthy level  can lead to rapid health and social benefits. Even dropping it by one or two points can literally take years off your life and in some circumstances can actually lead to you feeling younger than your age. More importantly though, it takes pressure off your body’s organs and helps the body to function as it should again.”

LighterLife’s BMI4Life campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of reaching and maintaining a healthy BMI between 18.5 and 24.9. The campaign which runs from 10 – 23 May, is supported by The Stroke Association as obesity is a key risk factor in stroke and stroke is the second biggest killer in the UK.

As part of the campaign, LighterLife is encouraging people to visit www.lighterlife.com/bmi4life and post a message of support. For every message posted LighterLife will donate £1 to The Stroke Association, so post a message, tell your friends, family and colleagues, anyone you can think of… because, after all, every five minutes someone in the UK suffers from a stroke.  

Sue Dover, Marketing Director LighterLife said: “It’s a great concern that thousands of people out there don’t really know that their health could be seriously affected by carrying extra weight and having an unhealthy BMI.  BMI is a very important indicator of health but people just seem to ignore it. Whilst people may look relatively average, an unhealthy BMI runs the risk of seriously damaging their organs and outer appearance. We hope that the real health risks will galvanise the British people and encourage them to get more active, reduce their weight and lower their BMI to a healthy level”.
 
Nikki Hill, Deputy Director of Communications for The Stroke Association, said: “More people than most of us realise are at risk of having a stroke. Being overweight can increase this risk. Carrying extra weight around the waist can increase the risk of stroke, heart disease and some cancers by up to threefold, that is why our message of BMI4Life is so important.”

Visit www.bmi4life.com to check your BMI for free during the campaign as well as post messages to raise money for The Stroke Association to ensure they can continue their vital work in supporting stroke survivors and their families.

For more information on the risk of having a high BMI and how it can increase your susceptibility to stroke please visit www.lighterlife.com

Notes to editor

To calculate a BMI manually:
1. Work out your height in metres and multiply the figure by itself
2. Measure your weight in kilograms
3. Divide the weight by the height squared
4. Put simply you divide your weight in kilograms by the answer to question one
Facts in terms of health and BMI**:

• Thousands of unhealthy Brits are costing the NHS Millions of pounds a year, and they don’t even realise it. 
• Each obese individual costs the NHS £65,164.62 per year
• 25% of people are unaware what BMI stands for 
• 50% of people don’t know how BMI is measured 
• There are 15,345,750 obese people in the UK.

* Statistics taken from cqc.org.uk (Care Quality Commission)
** Statistics taken from
British Market Research Bureau Limited,
IC NHS,
ONS Data and
Statistics.gov.uk
LighterLife conducted survey

Lighter life Case Study:

A case in point is LighterLife member Cheryl Birse who lost 4 stone 12lbs:

Cheryl comments: “I had been overweight for over 30 years and after losing my husband and parents to cancer, I ate myself to the stage where I had to take the maximum dosage of tablets for type 2 diabetes. As a nurse, I realised the risks to my health and decided to take action. Since losing almost five stone, I feel like a new woman. I have come off all my tablets and my diabetes is now diet controlled. My blood pressure is now normal; I have lots of energy and an enormous sense of wellbeing. I have never had so much confidence; I feel much younger and now have a BMI in the twenties - even at 63 it is never too late to do something about your weight and feel 20 something again. I found love again and my grandchildren have to keep up with me now, rather than the other way around!”

General:

Being overweight or obese increases your likelihood of having high blood pressure and cholesterol which are major risk factors for stroke. But strokes can be prevented. Losing weight and including regular physical activity can reduce your risk. Even moderate physical activity can reduce the risk by 27%. 
 
The Stroke Association is the only UK charity solely concerned with combating stroke in people of all ages. The charity funds research into prevention, treatment, better methods of rehabilitation and helps stroke patients and their families directly through its community services which include communications support, family and carer support, information services, welfare grants, publications and leaflets. The Stroke Association also campaigns, educates and informs to increase knowledge of stroke at all levels of society acting as a voice for everyone affected by stroke.

LighterLife is a weight-loss and weight-management programme for people who are one stone or more overweight and with a body mass index of 25 or above. LighterLife offers programmes specific to the obese and the overweight using nutritionally balanced soups, shakes and bars combined with specialised
counselling techniques. Clients benefit not only from rapid, safe weight loss but they also learn the behavioural changes needed to sustain it.

For further media information contact:

Lewis Miles/Amy Benbow-Hebbert PR for LighterLife
0207 861 2525 – lmiles@resonate.uk.com or abenbow@resonate.uk.com

Richard Mountford - The Stroke Association
0207 566 1534 / richard.mountford@stroke.org.uk

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