WIREDGOV

Is my diet affecting my health? Am I drinking too much? Am I active enough? Getting personalised health information, whether to address specific concerns or just see how you are faring, can be tricky. But from today, it will be much easier to check how healthy you are using a free, revamped tool on the NHS Choices website.

The LifeCheck tool asks you a small number of questions about your age and lifestyle which generates an individual health profile and health tips tailored to your needs. You are then encouraged to set achievable goals to improve your health and wellbeing.

LifeCheck is being relaunched following changes to make it more user-friendly. Three existing tools, Baby LifeCheck (5-8 months), Teen LifeCheck (12-15 years) and Mid-LifeCheck (over 40s) have been combined and extended so that LifeCheck now covers all age groups from newborns to grandparents.

The Department of Health will be making the LifeCheck tool available to the 194 organisations signed up to the Public Health Responsibility Deal, an initiative launched recently to promote public health and well-being, as well as to its own staff and those in other Government departments.

Health Minister Simon Burns said:

“We all sometimes wonder whether we could be doing more to look after our health. Getting clear, reliable information that’s relevant to our own circumstances can be a challenge.

“LifeCheck offers a free, quick and easy way of doing this. By giving advice which is personalised and suggesting achievable goals it encourages people to think about how simple lifestyle changes can improve their own health and that of their families.”

Notes to Editors

1. The tool is available at www.nhs.uk/lifecheck 2. NHS Choices (www.nhs.uk) is a comprehensive online information service that helps people find reliable information about medical treatments, local services, conditions and healthy living. It also provides access to online services such as appointment booking and the ability for patients to comment on their experience. It is the most popular health website in the UK, recording more than eight million visits on average a month. 3. The Public Health Responsibility Deal is a new initiative which enables the voluntary sector, business, industry and the retail sector to work in partnership with Government to improve public health and wellbeing. Around 194 organisations have signed up to the Deal which was launched on 15 March.

Contacts:

Department of Health
Phone: 020 7210 5221
NDS.DH@coi.gsi.gov.uk