A SPECIAL group has been set up to steer people in Bolton towards a healthy diet.

The newly-formed Five-A-Day Steering Group is due to meet up for the first time on Thursday, June 5, to thrash out ideas on how to increase Bolton people's fruit and vegetable intake.

It is part of Bolton Primary Care Trust's plan to encourage people of all ages to eat their five portions a day after it was awarded £150,000 from the National Lottery's New Opportunities Fund to promote healthier diets in deprived parts of Bolton.

The steering group has been set up to oversee the project and iinvolves a cross section of the community..

They will work with a co-ordinator yet to be appointed.

Lesley Jones, Specialist in Public Health, said: "We put a lot of effort in our bid to the New Opportunities Fund and it is exciting to see it all come to fruition. We have lots of plans and initiatives to encourage everyone in the community to eat more fruit and vegetables, as it has been proven to help prevent heart disease and cancer. Within Bolton, fewer than 12 per cent of the population are eating the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. We aim to improve this statistic over the next two years."

Plans are in the pipeline for food taster sessions, healthy cooking lessons, a possible farmers' market and community-based growing schemes, as well as targeting schools and the workplaces by making fruit and vegetables more accessible.

The six areas to be targeted are Deane, Oldhams, New Lane, Tonge Moor, Great Lever and the Springfield Road area of Kearsley because evidence suggests that fruit and vegetable consumption is lower in these areas. The project is set to start during the summer.