The FA and obesity: Information

  • The FA recognises that sedentary lifestyles and obesity are a problem for this country, and is committed to helping fix it. We want to work with the government and other partners to promote healthy lifestyles, and to use the power of football to achieve this wherever possible.
  • We believe that a healthy lifestyle is achieved by a combination of a well balanced diet and physical activity.
  • We see football as ‘competing’ with other leisure pursuits, particularly of children, which are by their nature sedentary.
  • The FA wants more active participation, we do this by investment in football, both public and private, as we believe that not only does participation bring benefits to the society, but also to the health of the individuals concerned. This investment is raising awareness, funding facilities and providing coaches.
  • We believe that research shows prevention to be more cost-effective than cure in public health. Active participation is part of the prevention. We are therefore working with the relevant authorities to find innovative ways of encouraging new people to take part in sport, producing that preventative effect.
  • The FA focuses its efforts on physical activity, as this is clearly where we can have the greatest impact. The aim of all our development work is to increase participation in the game.
  • While recognising and supporting the importance of nutrition through a balanced diet, we use our position as a sports organisation in an influential position to educate.
  • The FA will shortly be launching a Euro 2004 education pack to all schools in the country, using the excitement of the England team’s challenge this summer. This will not only improve numeracy and literacy, but also educate young people about healthy lifestyles - a combination of a well-balanced diet and physical activity.

The FA Partners

  • The involvement of our Partners in our football development and other work is very important. Their investment and support enables us to deliver even more improvements to the game.
  • The FA conducts successful initiatives and programmes to promote participation, with the support of all five FA Partners. We are very proud of the results that we are achieving together.
  • We believe that the involvement of FA Partners from the food and drink sectors has no detrimental effect on the quality and quantity of our development or education programmes.
  • In fact the reverse is true; The FA uses brands and investment, its own and those of Partners, to increase physical activity in England. The challenge cannot be met by football alone, and we look to the government to invest in sport at all levels.