Gerrard backs new campaign

Steven Gerrard has lent his support to a new initiative that aims to tackle the growing issue of obesity and associated disease in youngsters in the UK. The Liverpool Football Club Foundation teamed up with the Zesh Rehman Foundation to pilot the 'Get Up, Get Moving' project at the city's Shorefields secondary school. Gerrard is the ambassador of the educational initiative, which has been designed to increase awareness of physical activity, healthy eating and consequences of inactivity and poor lifestyle choices. The UK has one of the highest rates of obesity and inactivity in Europe and the rest of the world - and statistics are on the increase. Get Up, Get Moving believes prevention is better than cure and therefore aspires to educate children on the importance of healthier lifestyles now. The messages are promoted via five one-hour lectures (which is how much physical activity is recommended for children per day) and is delivered by the school teachers, who are supplied with all relevant materials. This pilot project is headed up by Liverpool's first-team doctor, Dr Zaf Iqbal and Irfan Kawri, the Zesh Rehman Foundation's north-west coordinator. After two small pilot studies in Manchester, the pair were delighted to bring the programme to Liverpool and are confident the increase in knowledge and awareness amongst youngsters will continue. Dr Iqbal said: "It's very important. If we just look at current figures, every day we read in newspapers about the increasing rates of obesity and this, unfortunately, is going to cause massive problems in the future. "Britain has one of the highest rates of obesity in both adults and kids, and associated with this are the chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. This will have a huge impact on the individual, and also on the NHS in terms of cost. "I've been involved in promoting physical activity in various community groups over the last eight years. I heard about the Zesh Rehman foundation and they then made contact with me. Together, we came up with this project - and because I am working at Liverpool Football Club, we thought it would be a good idea to use the power of LFC to add to the message we are trying to get across." Dr Iqbal is delighted to have the support of Gerrard, whose appearance as Shorefields helped enforce the positive messages of Get Up, Get Moving. He added: "It's absolutely fantastic to have someone like Steven Gerrard become the ambassador for the project. He's got kids himself and as a sportsman, he's aware of the importance of healthy eating. To have his profile attached to this message is fantastic."