UK Government Launches Campaign to Help Parents Improve Children’s Diet

The multimedia Better Health campaign has been launched today to encourage families to eat better and includes a new ‘scan, swipe and swap’ feature for the NHS Food Scanner App, which provides a simple solution to help families improve their diet.

Families can scan the product barcodes from their shopping and the App will suggest healthier alternatives to help them make an easy swap next time they shop. The App uses a “Good Choice” badge to help signpost people to healthier food and drinks in line with the government’s dietary recommendations for added sugar, saturated fat and salt.

The multimedia campaign will run throughout England from 10th January to 31st March and will include new advertising on TV, video on demand, radio, out of home, media partnerships, social media and other digital channels, together with national and regional PR activity. 

The new advertising campaign created by M&C Saatchi, brings the swaps to life by presenting the Food Scanner App as the simple solution to help parents find healthier swaps for their families. The advert, which has been executed across TV, video on demand, radio, out of home, and social is aimed at families, encouraging them to download the NHS Food Scanner App, a handy health “hack” that helps parents swap foods that are high in sugar, saturated fat and salt, to healthier alternatives.  

Ben Golik, Chief Creative Officer at M&C Saatchi, said: “Every January brings its wave of ‘new year new you’ campaigns. This push goes much further, with an App that’s designed to support genuine, long-term changes in how we shop and eat. The Food Scanner App makes healthier eating a fun, family activity, and the campaign’s lively tone and sense of magic really reflects that. It makes genuine behaviour change simple, accessible and joyful.”

Ian Williams, Deputy Director Marketing Activation at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, said: “We know how hard it can be for families to make healthier choices, especially given challenges of the pandemic which has had a huge impact on our habits and routines. But it’s so important to encourage children to eat the right food as we know this makes a major difference to their long-term health. 

Which is why we’re launching the new Better Health campaign and the new NHS Food Scanner App so that parents can easily swap foods in their weekly shop and find healthier choices which benefit the whole family.”

Dr Alison Tedstone, Chief Nutritionist at DHSC said: “We are all aware of the increased pressures families have been under throughout the pandemic with children being stuck at home more. With advertising promoting unhealthy foods to kids, it’s not surprising that parents say they’ve often found it hard to resist pestering from their children for more unhealthy snacks, and that is why the NHS Food Scanner App is a great tool  to help families make quick and easy healthier swaps.

“It’s so important that children reduce the amount of sugary, fatty and salty foods they eat to help them stay healthy and reduce the risk of health problems such as diabetes and tooth decay.” 

Wavemaker, who lead paid media planning for DHSC, focused attention on ensuring the campaign reaches and motivates families in areas of greatest health inequalities so that they are made aware of the App and are supported to make healthier choices for their children.

Emily Fairhead-Keen Strategy Partner at Wavemaker said: “The pandemic has brought turbulence to the household; particularly for parents who have been navigating changing restrictions with regards to work and schooling. This context has inevitably led to healthy eating being knocked down the pecking order of parents’ immediate priorities for their children. Parents, now more than ever, are looking for ease with regards to their children’s nutrition and the Food Scanner App, provides a much-needed solution.” 

23red have negotiated support from a number of brands including Soreen, Hartley’s, Frubes, Petits Filous, Wildlife, Capri Sun, Snackzilla, Boka Food, The Collective, Green Cola, Munch Bunch, Ski, Kellogg’s, and innocent. They will be using the “Good Choice”* badge across a range of channels including in-store, online, and TV to help signpost families to healthier alternatives.

Rachel Tattersdill, client partner at 23red said: “It is fantastic to see so many brands coming together and supporting this campaign. 23red are proud to be working with DHSC and our trusted partners to help families identify and swap to healthier alternatives. We'd also like to hear from more brand partners so that families have an even wider choice of healthier options to choose from."

A full range of digital and printed resources will be available for partners on the Campaign Resource Centre including posters, a take-home leaflet, digital banners and a social media toolkit, as well as a brand new Children’s Healthier Eating Toolkit. There will also be a comprehensive schools programme, with new curriculum-linked resources on the School Zone to help pupils learn about healthy eating.