City women to be faces of healthy eating campaign

NINE women from across the Capital are starring on billboards and bus adverts as part of a drive to promote healthy eating.

Celebrity chef Jacqueline O'Donnell helped to launch the health campaign, Small Steps Big Difference, which focuses on women in Edinburgh.

The joint campaign between NHS Lothian and the city council aims to raise awareness of the importance of exercise and a healthy diet to women aged from 20 to 49.

Dawn Thomson, 39, from Pilton, is one of the women who appear on the posters and is urging other women to follow her lead.

She said: "I'll be trying to make small changes to the things I do like walking instead of getting the bus, or getting off the bus a few stops earlier. That type of thing's achievable.

"Just knowing you don't have to go to the gym to be active or go on a diet to be healthy is a positive message for lots of women like me."

The women taking part in the campaign live in areas including Pilton, Broomhouse, Gilmerton, Granton, Leith and Moredun.

Ms O'Donnell, owner of The Sisters restaurants in Glasgow, said: "Small steps really do make a big difference to your health. Making a small change to the way you eat or to the things you do can have a big impact on your health. I run a healthy eating class each week and it amazes me how unaware some people are about the impact certain foods can have on them."

She added: "It can be as easy as substituting herbs and lemon juice for salt to season your food, or a piece of fruit instead of crisps - just a little change can be so beneficial in the long run."

In one of the posters, Ms Thomson can be seen preparing a meal alongside the quotation, "I cut down on salt and use herbs and spices, and now my food tastes better".

Other posters show "Rachel from South West Edinburgh" walking her daughter to school instead of taking the car, while "Suzie from South East Edinburgh" can be seen eating an apple on the move, with the quotation - "When I don't have time for breakfast, I grab some fruit on the go".

Director of public health and health policy at NHS Lothian, Dr Alison McCallum, said: "This campaign highlights the very important message that small but very meaningful changes can be achieved quite effortlessly by building these ideas in to everyday life and not altering too much."