The Department of Health's (DH's) Change4Life (C4L) initiative is teaming up with children's superhero character Sportacus to inspire UK children to ditch their junk food and tuck into more 'sports candy' – otherwise known as fruit and vegetables.

Sportacus features in the children's television programme 'LazyTown', in which the main character encourages her friends to go outside and be active, with the help of local hero Sportacus. The partnership of C4L and LazyTown aims to encourage children between the ages of two and five to be more active, eat healthier food and leave their 'lazy ways' behind.

To launch the partnership, 3,600 Sure Start Children's Centres were due to receive new Change4Life activity packs featuring all the LazyTown stars in September. The packs contain fun ideas for group activities and parents at home, such as healthy recipe ideas and a sticker wall chart. This will help children track their progress as they become as active and healthy as Sportacus.

The C4L and LazyTown materials will also be available for Change4Life supporters and partners to download from www.nhs.uk/Change4Life.