I am firmly convinced that in order to change society for the good you have to target the young. It's far easier to convince a youngster than a middle-aged person who is set in their ways, reasonably happy with their lot and who just wants an easy life.

Paramedics tell me that, on average, they attend 45 calls a day and two thirds are as a result of someone suffering chest pains. These calls aren't spread evenly across the region but bunched in clusters. And often, as they enter the house, the medics detect the signs of unhealthy diet, smoking, excessive drinking.

Fire officers tell me the majority of emergency calls they attend are in the same clusters. The primary cause is chip pan or discarded cigarette fires.

So better health awareness can not only prolong lives but also save the taxpayer billions of pounds and free up the resources of our emergency services and hospitals.

I suggested to colleagues we should focus our efforts on the primary schools in these cluster areas. I believe in getting them young and thought five and six-year-olds were a good starting point.

However, my colleague, Councillor Jan Brunton, felt this was leaving it too late. "Target them in the womb," she said. And following a visit to a local hospital, I realise she's absolutely right.

The James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough is one of five in the Northern and Yorkshire region which has been accredited Baby Friendly status by UNICEF.

It's a worrying fact that the clusters I referred to are also the areas where breast-feeding rates are at their lowest. So I was delighted to see that the work of Anne Holt and her team of midwives at James Cook has been recognised by UNICEF.

To those of you who already know the value of breast-feeding I apologise, but the health benefits that Ms Holt and her team pointed out to me are worth repeating.

It has now been established beyond doubt that breast-feeding reduces the risk of babies developing gastro-enteritis, ear infections, respiratory infections and many other illnesses and infections.

But perhaps the biggest impact of promoting breast-feeding is that it can bring home to parents the reality that the choices they make can have a major impact on the health of their child.

Choosing bottle or breast is one of the first decisions a parent makes that will have a direct effect on their child's health. But from there they face other dietary decisions: fizzy pop or juice, sweets or fruit, chips or vegetables.

Schools can then pick up the baton and it's refreshing to see how many are now teaching health awareness in the classroom.

Meanwhile, the parents will have hopefully learnt something as well. Perhaps we will see mum and dad looking at their own lifestyles and making changes as a result of that encounter with a baby friendly hospital.

The message is simple: if you want to give your child the best start in life then choose breast-feeding.

And, if you want to be around to enjoy your grandchildren, then think about what you eat, what you drink and whether you really have to smoke.

Published: 16/07/2004