The importance of seafood in the diet

Heather Middleton

Marketing Manager

heather.middleton@seafish.co.uk

Overview of Seafish and my area of work

Importance of seafood in the diet of our workforce

and nation

Our health campaign results and brief overview

What you can do in your workplace

Presentation Overview

Overview of Seafish and the work you do – company and individual role

Our mission is to support a profitable,

sustainable and socially responsible

future for the seafood industry.

Our remit includes everything - and

everyone - from fishermen and

processors through to retailers,

restaurants and consumers.

www.seafish.co.uk

Seafish remit Marketing Manager

Management of all consumer and

health work

Day-to-day

• Managing a team of 4 FTE and

working with a whole range of others

• Working with industry from multiple

retailers to individual sole traders

• Delivering marketing campaigns to

cover the UK to targeted consumer

segments.

Poor heart health costs

the NHS £9 billion

annually

Heart health a big killer

179K lives 28% premature male deaths and

19% premature female deaths

How is eating seafood important for our

workforce and the nation?

Just one example …3000+ studies from

around the world have

found eating seafood

can keep the heart

healthier

Countries with a diet

high in seafood have a

very low incidence of

heart disease.

Omega-3 - The SuperfishoilOur bodies can’t produce omega-3 naturally, so we should try to enjoy seafood at least

twice a week to ensure our bodies get the omega-3 they need to thrive.

• Love heart health - one of the main benefits

of the long-chain omega-3 fats in fish is to keep the

heart healthy.

• Fuelling brain power omega-3 is proven to

contribute to the maintenance of normal brain

function from cradle to grave.

• Eye health - contributes to the maintenance of

normal vision in all ages

Eating Seafood - Vitamins and Minerals

• Vitamin D helps the body absorb/use calcium and phosphorus

for bones, muscles, immune system and teeth.

Around a fifth of all adults have low levels of vitamin D.

• B vitamins give us energy and helps our nervous system

• Calcium is needed for our bones, muscles, nerves,

digestive system, energy and ensures our blood clots

• Zinc has many vital functions in the body including

helping our immune system

• Iron helps give us energy and can reduce tiredness.

23% of women aged 19-64 have extremely

low levels of iron

• Iodine helps to regulate the body’s metabolism.

• Potassium maintaining normal blood pressure, and

muscle and nerve function.

• Selenium helps our immune system protect us from

the inside out.

38% of 19-64 year olds and

42% of over 65’s have very low intakes of selenium.

Seafood Importance - Vitamins and Minerals

Seafood helping to tackle obesityAlmost two thirds of people in the UK are overweight or obese

• A small change of eating more seafood can add up – weighing too much

increases the risk of health problems including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high

blood pressure and certain cancers.

• Seafood keeps you fuller for longer - as seafood is high in protein it make us feel

fuller than foods that are high in fat or carbohydrates.

• Low fat, low carb - most white fish and shellfish are low in fat and low in carbs

• All goodness - all types of fish are nutrient dense which means there are a lot of

nutrients in proportion to calories.

Small changes to diet can make big differences to waistlines. One of the easiest

things we can do is eat more seafood and ultimately two portions of fish a week!

2aweek –

globally

recognised a healthy diet should

include at least two portions

of fish a week, including one

of oily fish.

2aweek – a simple message with clear call to action for everyone

consumers to procurement/menu planners

1.15 portions a

week in UK On average, we manage to eat just

1 portion of oil-rich fish every 3

weeks!*

UK falling significantly short of seafood

consumption recommendations

Changing awareness on seafood and health

20% 28%

Seafish Campaign

Activation

January to March 2017

March 2017

AWARENESS RESULTS

Recommended advice to eat 2 portions of fish a week

December 2016

NHS/health professionals recommendation to eat fish twice a week as part of a healthy diet

28%

December 2016

March 2017

34%

Targeting and Our Campaign Pillars

Targeting

What can you do in your workplace

• Make seafood health information available to employeesin staff rooms/work areas, intranet/employee channels

• Use the free resources and toolkits from Seafish

• Point employees to www.2aweek.co.uk

• Organise a 2aweek challenge or pledge

• Sign up in 2018 Healthy Eating Week 11-15 June and Seafood Week 5-12 October

• Appoint a health champion – for peer to peer marketing

• Don’t forget your internal marketing and external marketing

• Don’t just look at health as a flash in the pan activity it’s a long term project