Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club has launched its We Choose Health campaign – which supports the Department of Health’s white paper of the same name – by offering a 10-week health and fitness regime to six Albion fans.

The chosen fans – known as the Seagulls Six, after their team’s nickname – range from a 14-year-old girl to a 48-year-old man.

They nominated themselves for the health MOT and were chosen to represent a cross section of the football club’s fanbase.

Brighton and Hove Albion club doctors, Tim Stevenson and Alistair Raiman, gave the participants a full health check before they embarked on the scheme.

A personal healthy eating regime has been developed for each fan, while the football club’s trainers have provided personal fitness assessments and simple exercise programmes,

The scheme is designed to make simple but real changes to the health and fitness of the volunteers and inspire others with their progress.

Fourteen-year-old Seagull Natalie Harris said: “I’m a young, fit footballer heavily into my sports, however, like many girls my age my diet isn’t good. Peer pressure to be skinny and tempting fatty foods fail me!

“I am looking forward to making some real changes to what I eat and to also learning more about food that will give me energy and keep me looking healthy.”

In addition to the Seagulls Six scheme, the Brighton and Hove Albion We Choose Health campaign plans to target primary schools.

Footballers from the team will visit schools to offer advice on keeping healthy and staying fit. Details: www.activeforlife.org.uk