Gladstone Children's Centre in Peterborough is urging Muslim fathers to quit smoking during Ramadan.
Peterborough has a larger than average Muslim community, where smoking rates are particularly high and heart disease is most prevalent among Muslim men.
Gladstone Children's Centre is working in conjunction with Peterborough's Stop Smoking Service to help fathers give up smoking and have healthier foods at the times they eat during Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
Help and advice will be available at the centre for fathers during and after the month of Ramadan at drop-in sessions every Tuesday and Thursday between 4pm and 5pm.
The sessions will provide advice on quitting smoking, using nicotine replacement therapy to reduce cravings and adopting nutritious eating habits.
A fathers' support group at the centre is to continue to promote healthier lifestyles after the holy month finishes.
Haroon Bhabha, fathers' health support co-ordinator at Gladstone Children's Centre, said, 'There is a significant inequality in life expectancy rates within Peterborough's population.
'The Stop Smoking service aims to tackle health inequalities among Muslim fathers and elders who are or who may be contemplating to lead healthier lifestyles, by using the holy month of Ramadan as an inspiration to adopt positive behavioural changes in their habits.'
