Cancer Focus NI Launch New App

Cancer Focus Northern Ireland has launched a new app to help young people learn more about how the lifestyle choices they make can affect their future health.

The app, FaceUp, will show users how too much alcohol and too many calories can change their look. Using pop-up cartoons, it aims to demonstrate how an individual could look in the future if they do not pay attention to their diet. It also hopes to encourage young people to be proactive and take steps to lower their risk of developing cancer when they are older.

Niamh McDaid, Cancer Prevention Officer, Cancer Focus NI, explained: "All you have to do is take a few photos of yourself on your phone or from your photo gallery, pick your lifestyle habits from a list and press a button. The app will transform you in a fun way to show how you could look in the future if you go on making poor choices with food and alcohol.

"You'll be able to post the images on Facebook. In some case it won't be a pretty picture – but it'll definitely get a laugh from your friends."

However, she added: "Behind the joke is a serious message – the app also highlights some of the cancers you could get."

Ashleigh Coyle, a finalist on this year's Big Brother, tried the app. She said: "Working as a model, you realise how important it is to look – and feel – your best. My health is so important to me, both now and in the future, so I try to get plenty of exercise and watch my diet.

"Your health is the most valuable asset you'll ever have so you need to look after it. Cancer Focus NI has come up with an excellent, fun way to encourage young people to take better care of themselves."

(JP/CD)