As part of the loveLIFE campaign, I am delighted to be working with the Herald Express to bring you a new fortnightly column on health and wellbeing, writes Torbay's director of public health Debbie Stark. While my column will be looking at sharing some of the exciting opportunities which are coming up to make Torbay healthier, I am going to use my first column to look at public health activities over the last year and the health of Torbay past.

Each year the public health team for Torbay publishes a public health report, and this year we chose to look at how far we have come during the last 100 years.

A century ago, Torbay already had a higher life expectancy than the national average, but we still faced a number of the same health issues which occur today, including smoking, dental health and infections.

As you would expect, there have also been some vast improvements, many of which have come about as a result of advances in immunisation and environmental conditions, but there does remains the unchanged, personal responsibility to keep ourselves as fit and well as we can.

I know you will have all heard this many times, but eating a well-balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, drinking alcohol sensibly and responsibly, being physically active for at least 30 minutes a day and, most importantly, being smoke-free can all help to keep us fitter and healthier for longer.

Over the coming weeks and months, the loveLIFE campaign will focus on some of these health issues, as well as including some inspiring stories from people who are trying to meet and achieve their health and wellbeing goals.

Hopefully, readers will be able to draw on the experiences of others to help identify and meet their own health pledges and gain some useful and handy tips for staying fit and well.

While making a lifestyle change is a conscious decision that we must all make on our own there is help and support available from our Lifestyles team to make these changes that bit easier.

They provide services to help support weight management, fitness and help with quitting smoking. The Lifestyles team can be contacted on 01803 208840.

If you would like to see a copy of our annual report from 2011, log on to www.torbaycaretrust.nhs.uk

Additionally, if you would like to comment generally on the report or this column, I would like to hear from you.

Email me at torbaypublichealth@nhs.net