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Healthy Eating Health Action Logo.

Healthy Eating - Healthy Action
Oranga Kai - Oranga Pumau

Newsletter
Issue 10, July 2008


In This Issue:

kids sucking oranges
Margie Apa.

Introduction from Margie Apa


The HEHA Project team has had another busy couple of months with the launch of the breastfeeding social marketing campaign at the end of July.

Coinciding with World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August), the launch at Turuki Health Care in Mangere, South Auckland was one that will remain with myself and the HEHA Project team for a long time.

The launch of the new campaign advertisements also doubled as a celebration of Turuki Health Care’s successful B4 Baby programme and the opening of a new onsite breastfeeding clinic.

Ngaronoa Kimura is the clinical leader of B4 Baby and is one of the only Maori lactation consultants in New Zealand. B4 Baby is a breastfeeding peer support programme that assists around 700 South Auckland mothers every year to breastfeed and continue to breastfeed for as long as possible, with support and advice from Ngaronoa and her team of breastfeeding educators.

Our breastfeeding campaign will help support organisations like Turuki Health Care to continue to improve breastfeeding rates, especially amongst Maori and Pacific families.

The campaign provides practical tips that partners, families and friends of breastfeeding mums can do to support women to breastfeed for as long as they can.

Phase Two of the campaign will focus on improving environmental support for breastfeeding.

There’s more about the campaign opposite.

Meanwhile, the HEHA Project team is busy gearing up for the HEHA Research, Evaluation and Monitoring Conference What’s Happening In Our Backyard which is planned for the 3rd and 4th of November 2008.

The purpose of the conference is to improve understanding of what works to improve nutrition, increase physical activity and reduce obesity within New Zealand.

We’ve received over 50 abstracts and the programme is action-packed. To view the programme for the conference go to: www.moh.govt.nz/ healthyeatinghealthyaction Keep up the hard work.


Regards,

Margie Apa
Deputy Director-General of the Sector Capability
and Innovation Directorate, Ministry of Health

Supporting Breastfeeding


Ministry of Health launches breastfeeding campaign

man holding babyFamilies and whanau are being encouraged to support mums to breastfeed, in a mass-media advertising campaign launched in late July by the Ministry’s HEHA Project team.

The campaign, consisting of television, radio and print advertising, aims to increase the number of New Zealand babies exclusively breastfeed to six months and beyond. The television and radio advertisements provide simple tips for partners, whanau and friends of breastfeeding women to help support women to breastfeed for as long as possible.

Margie Apa, the Deputy Director-General of the Sector Capability and Innovation Directorate at the Ministry of Health, says although our country has breastfeeding rates at birth that are consistent with other OECD countries, rates are low at six weeks and beyond, especially among Maori and Pacific women.

“Research carried out before the campaign was developed, including focus groups with mums and babies and their partners and family, identified a number of barriers to breastfeeding.”

Margie says, “These barriers included a lack of breastfeeding support and information, mothers returning to paid work and finding it hard to continue with breastfeeding, and negative attitudes to breastfeeding from the general public and family members. Teenage parents, Maori, Pacific peoples, new migrants and people on low incomes are more affected by these barriers”.

She says the new campaign acknowledges that breastfeeding may not be easy for everyone, but continuing to breastfeed is definitely worth it – for mum and baby.

The new campaign aims to improve breastfeeding rates by providing messages about how important breastfeeding is, and about how important it is for family and whanau and friends to encourage and support mums to breastfeed.

So what are the campaign’s key messages? Breastfeeding plays an important part in the health and wellbeing of babies, mothers and whanau/family and gives our children the very best start in life.

Margie Apa says the campaign has two phases. Phase One, launched recently, focuses on encouraging partners, family/whanau and friends to support mothers to breastfeed.

“Phase Two aims to build 'environmental’ support for breastfeeding – that is, it encourages support for breastfeeding in settings outside the home. This phase will include work with hospitality venues, councils, employers, early childhood education services, marae, churches and shopping centre management.”

Margie says the aim is to increase the perception of breastfeeding as a normal and usual part of everyday life – anywhere, any time, any place.

Tips for supporters –

Breastfeeding can be challenging and it can be tiring. Support from partners, family and friends can really help.

There are many things that family and friends can do to support mums to breastfeed.
  • Offer to help with other children – read them a story or play with them.
  • Help around the house – do the dishes, or the grocery shopping. Hang out the washing, do some cleaning or make the school lunches.
  • If mum is finding breastfeeding hard going, encourage her that plenty of wet nappies is one of the signs that baby is getting enough milk.
  • Bonding through breastfeeding with baby is really important for mum.
  • Other family members can enjoy bonding too. Cuddle and soothe baby. This will help mum to breastfeed successfully because she is getting the rest she needs.
  • And remember, dads need to take time out to bond with baby too! Why not have a bath or a shower with baby, burp baby after a feed, and don’t forget to help with nappy changing!

For information about the campaign or to view the television advertisements go to www.breastfeeding.org.nz



Update: Food Industry News


Supermarkets take steps to make healthy shopping easier

Shoppers in New Zealand’s major supermarkets should find it easier to access healthy produce and to combat ‘pester power’, according to plans being rolled out by the two largest supermarket groups. Supermarket operators foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises Ltd are both taking further steps that are designed to support healthy eating outcomes for customers.

In summary

HEHA National Programme Manager Cynthia Maling says, “Considering that New Zealanders purchase approximately 75% of their food from supermarkets, changes in this environment have the potential to really make a positive difference to people’s health.”

“Both major supermarket groups are taking steps in the right direction to help their consumers to have healthy eating outcomes,” says Cynthia.


1. Reformation for Healthier Home Brand Products
Foodstuffs, which operates PAK’nSAVE and New World supermarkets, is undertaking work on a ‘healthy options’ range which will appear on retail shelves under its private label brand Pams.
Foodstuffs is also working with suppliers to reduce the fat, sugar and salt in other private label products where practical. A reduction in the use of trans-fats has also been set as an objective.

Progressive Enterprises, which operates Countdown, Foodtown and Woolworths supermarkets, will be rolling out a new range of private label products under the brand Naytura. This range will offer food options low in salt, sugar, fat and additives. In conjunction with Woolworths, it is also working to reformulate its private label products (Select, Signature Range and Home Brand) to reduce trans-fat and sodium levels. The Home Brand bread is also currently being reformulated, to have an average of 24% less sodium than the current product.
2. Expansion of Fruit and Vegetable Space
This year Progressive has been working to expand the floor space allocated to ‘fresh food departments,’ including fruit, vegetables, eat and seafood departments, by on average 15% to 20% in its new and refurbished stores. “We have made the move to display fresh foods together, rather than scattered through the store, to encourage shoppers to put together their meals with primarily fresh ingredients,” says Bill Moore, Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Progressive Enterprises.

Foodstuffs also plans to increase the amount of space it makes available over time for displaying fruit and vegetables, as well as other healthy produce.
3.Confectionery - Free Checkouts
Foodstuffs has committed to increasing the number of checkouts in all their supermarkets that are ‘confectionery-free’ by 1 December 2008.

By the end of July, all 149 Progressive operated supermarkets had one confectionery-free checkout in place. following feedback from customer research, they will be putting water and healthier snack options, such as nuts and dried fruit, along with non-food items in place of confectionery.
4.Teaching Kids about Healthy Eating
Earlier this year Progressive launched its Fresh Food Kids programme, which focuses on promoting healthier food choices for kids. The campaign’s TV advertisements feature six children of various ages preparing healthier alternatives to favourite kids’ snacks, including an alternative to pizza, a healthy burger, and a fruit and yogurt based smoothie. In addition to a major on-air and in-store presence, a DVD of the adverts was included in the 5+ A Day school kits. By the end of 2008, Progressive will have invested over $1 million in this campaign.

appleFoodstuffs private label brand Pams is supporting nutrition education in schools through the provision of financial support for the Food for Thought Trust, which delivers nutrition education to primary school children. The trust’s resources are currently being used in 159 schools around New Zealand.


Reo Kori


Bringing the ‘Language of Activity’ to Kohanga Reo

Reo Kori activity programmeA multi-staged physical activity programme being piloted in Rotorua is proving effective in helping staff at local Kohanga Reo to build activity skills in young children.

“Many Kohanga Reo don’t have a formalised physical activity programme in place, and so we are bringing the components of a programme to them,” says Paora Te Hurihanganui, the Manager at Te Papa Takaro O Te Arawa, a Rotorua-based sports and health provider. The programme is designed to develop important motor skills and other physical activity skills, like climbing and gymnastics, in three to five year olds. “We have found that the competency levels of staff to deliver physical activity vary greatly, so we have developed an approach that can work with the needs of each Kohanga Reo.”

Te Papa Takaro O Te Arawa has been delivering the Reo Kori Programme – which means ‘language of activity’ – from late 2006 until April this year. The programme is delivered in Te Reo Maori and to date 13 Kohanga Reo have taken part.

“Each participating Kohanga Reo is taken through four stages of the programme,” explains Paora. “Stage one involves a series of demonstrations of the mini-movement programme to the staff, tamariki and their whanau. We model best practice behaviours, and get them being active straight away.”

After a month, the team then delivers a ‘train the trainer’ module, so that the staff can learn to implement the ‘minimovement’ programme confidently themselves. “We offer support through this stage, and observe and provide feedback to the staff, to help them develop confidence and the ability to deliver the programme moving forward. They all have different skill sets. Some need full-time support, and others you can simply train them and leave them to it!“

At the third stage, the programme staff go back into the Kohanga to look at their facilities, resources and environment to plan a programme of physical activity that would be sustainable, using what they have available. They also help the Kohanga to identify potential funding streams to purchase physical activity equipment that could enhance their activity options. “But we make sure that there are lots of activities that they can be ncorporating into their regular week, even without the new resources. Just using regular equipment, like benches,” says Paora.

The final stage is a big get together. “We hold a big sports day event for everyone!” This year saw two events being held instead of one, due to logistical reasons, but this didn’t spoil the day. “It was excellent! The day worked out really well, and many more parents turned up than expected. They had to lead kids in different exercises, so it was great to see them so involved in helping the kids to get active.”

The pilot was supported with funding from Toi Te Ora Public Health, and is currently being evaluated. But it has already brought changes to the participating Ko - hanga Reo, says Paora. “Some have even brought it into their school policy, and most have made it part of their ongoing curriculum.”

Whilst the pilot has finished, there are hopes that it will be delivered to more Kohanga in the future. “We have identified other areas of high need in the Ko - hanga for physical activity and nutrition and we are exploring these” says Paora. “This includes a ‘ball sports’ component, a traditional ‘Maori Stream’ based on cultural activities and games, and a ‘water-based’ exercise stream.”

There are also nutrition-based activities to explore, explains Paora. “Many staff said they want a garden, to grow healthy kai. And we’re looking at how we can bring food preparation and cooking lessons into the Kohanga too.

”The programme is reviewing funding options to roll it out further. “We’re working with the Kohanga Reo Regional Trust to see how we might take the programme to all Kohanga Reo in Rotorua. We’d like to even take it nationwide one day!,” says Paora.

For more information contact Paora at paora@papatakaro.org.nz



Healthy Home Environments


Parents can take action on healthy eating and activity for children

baby eating out of bowlParents can take the power back when it comes to healthy eating, despite the obesogenic environment, according to a new report from Agencies for Nutrition Action (ANA).

The commissioned report Does the family environment contribute to food habits or behaviours and physical activity in children? shows that the home environment and families do have a big infl uence on children’s food habits and physical activity. Co-author Robert Scragg explains, “The report found that parents do strongly influence the eating and physical activity patterns of children, both in the environment they create at home and in the example they provide to children, through modelling healthy behaviours themselves.”

The good news is that as well as being good role-models, the report found that there are a number of ways parents can empower themselves – and give their children the healthiest start possible in life.

“There are things that parents can do to create a healthy eating environment at home,” says Robert. “Such as providing healthy food choices, and putting limits on behaviours that we know are associated with poor eating habits and inactivity, such as limiting TV watching and sharing family meals.”

baby eating out of a bowlParents are also advised that monitoring the quality of food being eaten by children and their eating patterns are key steps they can take towards counteracting the effects of an unsupportive environment. Prioritising quality time to plan, prepare and eat food together as a family was also found to be supportive, however this could be affected by parents’ work-life balance, which was found to be a common factor affecting children’s food and activity patterns. “Poor work-life balance was shown to have a negative impact on food choices, as it can lead to increased consumption of convenience foods,” explains Robert.

“If parents are aware of this link, they may be able to develop strategies to minimise any harmful effects on food choices, for example, by planning healthy meals in advance.”

Offering encouragement and support for children to eat well was also a key theme that emerged in the report. “Supporting and encouraging attempts by children to follow healthy eating patterns and to be active are important in reaffi rming healthy behaviours,” says Robert. Parents can also help through making sure healthy meals and snacks are always available in the home as well as acting as positive role models themselves.

The eating and physical activity patterns of children are strongly infl uenced by the example parents create in the home.

” The report recommends that governmental, and other related agencies, should support parents in their efforts to create positive family food and activity environments. “Social marketing campaigns, such as Feeding our Futures, do have a vital role in educating parents and infl uencing their choices about food in the home,” explains Robert.

Public health programmes are also recommended to consider focusing on parenting skills development to assist healthy eating and activity behaviours in the home. “Public health nutritionists will be interested in the practical tips [within the report] to help parents implement a healthy home food environment.”

The report was released at the Public Health Association conference in Waitangi in July.

The report authors are Dr Rachel Brown, Lecturer, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Otago; Associate Professor Robert Scragg, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, School of Population Health, University of Auckland; and Robert Quigley, Director, Quigley and Watts Ltd.

    Key recommendations from the report include:

    • broccolliFamily mealtimes should be maintained as positive occasions as much as possible.
    • Turn the TV off during mealtimes.
    • Eat a healthy diet and undertake 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per day yourself.
    • Support and encourage all attempts by the child to follow healthy eating patterns and being active.
    • Maintain a positive emotional atmosphere during family meals.
    • Ensure children have the confidence to make healthy dietary choices, especially in what might be difficult situations (e.g. eating with friends).
    • Acknowledge that work commitments in family time may limit the availability of time to spend with family and can be damaging to family food and activity patterns.
    • Regulate the quality and patterns of food intake, and allow children to choose how much they should eat (known as authoritative parenting).
    • Have lots of healthy foods easily accessible in the home, and have small portions of, or no, “treat” food in the home.

    For a list of recommended strategies, and a full copy of the report visit www.ana.org.nz

News From the Regions


Project Inyteractive
Project Interactive launch - helping kids get active

Children in two North Harbour communities will be getting a helping hand to get more active, and stay active, thanks to the launch of a new physical activity initiative ‘Project InterACTIVE.’

The new project aims to align existing physical activity progammes within a cluster of neighbouring schools and early childhood centres to ensure a coordinated physical activity strategy that supports children to be active from early childhood through to the end of secondary school. The new project has seven schools signed up, from two targeted Waitemata communities – Birkdale/Beach Haven and Glendene/Kelston community.

These communities have been identified as they have a higher proportion of families of low socioeconomic status and many families who are not physically active, including some Maori and Pacific communities.

The project’s message is very clear – sport and physical activity should be fun! As Mandy Fraser, Harbour Sport Active Schools Facilitator explains.

“The project supports schools, sports clubs and community groups to offer children a wide range of sports and other physical activities to engage their interest and enthusiasm. We have talked to students in the community and we know that the two most important factors in getting them motivated are that they have fun and are with friends,” says Mandy. “If the fun’s gone out of it then they are more likely to switch off.”

nz mapThe project aims to slow down the decline in participation of older students in sports. “Research shows that a lot of 13–17 years olds are dropping out of sport because it’s no longer fun, it’s too serious and competitive, and they have the perception that sport is only for the really good kids.” In addition to encouraging more teenagers to participate in sports, the programme also aims to increase and sustain participation in physical activity in the younger children coming up through school. “The earlier we can work with children and their families to ensure they receive consistent messages about sport and physical activity the better.” says Mandy.

The three year programme is being delivered by Harbour Sport and Sport Waitakere, and the progress of 600 students across the schools will be evaluated over this time by Auckland University of Technology (AUT). This has been assisted through funding from the DHB HEHA Evaluation fund.

For more information contact Mandy Fraser on pac@harboursport.co.nz

Update: Mission-on


New lifestyle ambassadors announced

lifestyle ambasador for mission-onA double Olympic gold medallist, a popular All Black, a Tall Black and world champion mountain biker are among 17 new Lifestyle Ambassadors for Mission-On announced by Prime Minister Helen Clark.

message from Helen ClarkDuring a visit to Edmund Hillary Primary School, Auckland, Helen Clark announced the new ambassadors, which included swimming great Danyon Loader, former All Black fullback Christian Cullen, television presenter and former Tall Black Brendon Pongia, Dancing with the Stars’ Krystal Stuart, and World Champion mountain biker Scarlett Hagen.

“Danyon Loader who won two gold medals and one silver during his Olympic career is joined by a host of other sporting high profile Kiwis who will be working in New Zealand schools up and down the country to promote healthy lifestyles under the Mission-On programme,” Helen Clark said.

mission-on“The Mission-On Lifestyle Ambassador initiative, allowing ambassadors to connect with young people all over the country, is part of the Mission-On campaign to educate and inspire young people to make healthy lifestyle choices.”

“It is great to see so many of our sporting heroes using their skills and knowledge to motivate our young people to lead healthy lifestyles.” “The existing Lifestyle Ambassadors have been a huge success in their first year, participating in visits and events involving over 200 schools. The enormous demand for their services has created the need to appoint more ambassadors. I’m delighted that so many great role-models are making themselves available to talk to children about healthy lifestyles, exercise and nutrition,” Helen Clark said. The existing Lifestyle Ambassadors include popular Kiwi band Spacifix, television personality Nathan Rarere, and Silver Ferns Laura Langman and Bernice Mene.

Update: From HEHA


mission man
HEHA project team attends launch of Southland HEHA plan and charter

HEHA Project Team Leader Sue Laurence had the pleasure of attending the recent launch of the Southland HEHA Plan and Charter in Invercargill.

The Southland HEHA Plan builds on the Ministry’s HEHA Strategy, and aims to improve nutrition and increase physical activity by creating an environment and society where individuals, families and wha - nau, and communities are supported to eat well, live physically active lives and attain
and maintain a healthy body weight.

Southland’s HEHA manager Melanie McKenzie said the number of local organisations who had formally indicated their commitment to and support for the Southland HEHA Plan through the signing of the Southland HEHA Charter had grown to over 30, with more organisations expected to follow.

“The most exciting aspect of the launch was having numerous signatories representing the education, health, kaupapa Maori, local government and social service sectors,” said Melanie. The Plan emphasises the importance of action beyond the health sector.

The Southland HEHA Plan culminates a year’s work by the Southland HEHA Reference Group (SHEHARG), an interagency leadership group involving members of the Southland HEHA network, including Southland DHB, Public Health South, the Heart Foundation and Invercargill City Council.

HEHA network website ready to go live

The first phase of the HEHA Network website is ready to go live. The website www.heha.org.nz is designed to connect people within the HEHA sector, and others with an interest in HEHA. A HEHA Network Establishment Board, chaired by Iain Potter from the Health Sponsorship Council, has met for the first time. The board is leading the development of the HEHA Network until mid 2009 until the official handover to a permanent governance structure commences.

You’ll be the first to know when the HEHA Network website goes live.

Publication to celebrate successful HEHA innovations in Aotearoa

A magazine-style publication celebrating successful HEHA innovations around the country is just about to come off the press. The publication has been written by the HEHA Project team and is available for distribution far and wide.

To order copies of the magazine, please email the HEHA Project team’s communications advisor Victoria Evans – Victoria_Evans@moh.govt.nz

Introducing...


Janet Hanvey
 HEHA Project Directorr, Waikato DHB

Janet HanveyWhen it comes to ‘walking the talk’ for HEHA, Janet Hanvey’s passion for sport and physical activity means she’s not just walking – she’s running!

“I’m a keen triathlete,” says Janet, who has recently completed the Taupo Ironman triathlon. Janet has also been involved with coaching gymnastics for over 30 years, and her love of sport has even taken her to the New York Marathon! “I was involved with the disability organisation L.I.F.E. Unlimited, through which I got to walk the marathon as a carer with one of the athletes with a disability,” explains Janet.

Janet’s passion for nutrition and physical activity was fuelled when she became the Manager of Surgical Services for the DHB. “I originally started my career in health working in corporate services, looking after administration and fi nance areas for the DHB. But when I moved to managing Surgical Services, the seven years I spent working there meant I got to be reminded constantly of the importance of maintaining physicalhealth and fi tness.”

Janet on bikeJanet took on the new role of HEHA Project Director in April last year. “I thought it was a great chance to combine my passion for physical activity with my skills in Health Management, and to work with the broader community,” says Janet.

There are a number of HEHA projects under way for Janet and several of these nvolve collaborating with the other local DHBs. “Many agencies and NGOs, like the Heart Foundation and Ministry of Education, are working to deliver contracts that cross the DHB boundaries and work across a number of HEHA areas. So we’ve decided to team up with other Midland DHBs including Bay of Plenty and Lakes DHB to try and work as efficiently as we can with the different organisations, and to create a forum for the different HEHA-related issues to be supported.”

This new collaborative approach is proving both challenging and rewarding. “It is always going to be challenging when you have a number of stakeholders and contract requirements, but it makes so much sense to work together, and it seems to be working well!” The DHBs efforts have resulted in recent funding from the Ministry of Health’s Health and Disability National Services Directorate to carry out a Workforce Training Needs Assessment with Maori providers in the areas of physical activity and nutrition. “It’s great that we could secure this funding to assist with Maori providers working across the three DHBs.”

They have also seen the collaborative approach work well in the breastfeeding promotion area. “We have a passionate group driving the initiative. Our first meeting was in February this year and through a consultative approach and working together we were able to agree and put out a plan by April. This means that we already have a training needs assessment of the breastfeeding sector well under way.”

Waikato’s collaborative approach to administering the HEHA Nutrition Fund is also proving successful in supporting HEHA initiatives across the broader region. “We have established an education group drawing together a variety of agencies and community organisations, which has awarded close to $500,000 funding to 50 schools in the past year,” explains Janet. “There is some really great stuff happening in local schools, like the Hamilton East Schools kitchen initiative.”

Finding time in her busy schedule to keep active is a priority for Janet, and is well supported by the DHB. “My manager is really keen for us to get out there and ‘walk the talk.’ There’s a group of us who meet twice a week to work out with a trainer and we’re encouraged to be seen to be out there being active,” says Janet.

When she’s not running, cycling or swimming Janet loves to spend time with her 1 year old granddaughter Tara. “Even though my daughter’s family lives in Melbourne, It’s a real joy when I get to spend time with them.”

What's Happening in Janet's Region

Kool Kid’s Kitchen – Helping Teach Community Cooking Skills

It’s not just the kids who are learning at Hamilton East Primary School, local parents and community members can now access classroom-based cooking and food preparation lessons in its new ‘Kool Kid’s Kitchen’ facility.

The kitchen has been redeveloped, with help from the Nutrition Fund, to give parents the opportunity to learn and practise cooking skills within the school environment. “Hamilton East serves a multi-cultural community and has several migrant community groups who already visit the school for adult learning and childcare programmes,” says Sheryl Hanratty, HEHA District Coordinator.

kid's kitchenAlthough there was a lot of work going on at the school to promote healthy eating to school children, the school felt that the messages were often not reaching home, so they looked at what they could do to support parents to provide healthy food for their family.“The school had a pretty basic kitchen, with just one sink and limited facilities, which wasn’t suitable for delivering lessons. But by improving the kitchen the school realised they could run cooking and food preparation skills courses for parents from within the school, and enhance the classroom-based teaching for children,” said Sheryl. The school is currently in phase one of the project and the new kitchen is already ready to be used, with new electrical appliances available and shelving installed. The kitchen will have a new name too “Kool Kids Kitchen – the kids came up with it!”

One of the reasons for the school’s funding application success, says Sheryl, was that it demonstrated clear links between how the new facility would positively impact on classroom learning. “The project was really well thought through and communicated. In fact, the schoolchildren had made a DVD movie to support the application, which was great! It showed how the kids were really involved in the project.” Another reason, says Sheryl, is the personal support. “There are passionate staff leading this project, and without their vision and determination this would not be possible!”

Already a Project Energize school, the initiative complements work already being done to promote healthy eating and physical activity in the school and community. Now that the kitchen project is well under way, the school will be setting its sights on the next project – a school garden, which will grow fruit and vegetables to be prepared in the kitchen.

Info & Tips


Library corner

The ‘Sydney Principles’ For Reducing the Commercial Promotion of Foods and Drinks to Children

An International Obesity Taskforce (IOTF) working Group report has recently been published in the International Journal of Public Health Nutrition regarding a set of seven principles (the Sydney Principles) to guide action on changing food and beverage marketing practices that target children. The report presents the seven principles and feedback received from an international consultation on them.

To download the abstract click on the link below: http://journals.cambridge.org/downloadphp?fi le=%2FPHN%2FPHN1 1_09%2FS136898000800284Xa.pdf&code= 312751b591d5742283c2e95bce65491e

For more information on the IOTF go to: www.iotf.org

Reducing Unhealthy Weight Gain in Children Through Community Capacity-Building: Results of a Quasi- Experimental Intervention Program, be Active Eat Well

Be Active Eat Well was a multifaceted community capacity-building program promoting healthy eating and physical activity to children (aged 4-12 years) in the Australian town of Colac. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of Be Active Eat Well on reducing children’s unhealthy weight gain.

To view the full study click on the link below: http://www.nature.com/ijo/ journal/v32/n7/full/ijo200879a.html

HEHA tips
HEHA tips

Healthy eating is...

Children and young people need healthy food for their bodies and brains to work properly. Keep a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit on hand for snacks and encourage children to drink water throughout the day. You could add slices of orange, strawberry, kiwifruit or lemon. Avoid regularly offering food or drink as a treat or reward – a treat is not a treat if it happens every day! Keep treat foods for special occasions like parties.

Healthy action is...

Get active with your children. It’s a great way to have some fun and build your relationship. Take a ball or a Frisbee to your local park, or go for a bike or scooter ride together.

For more tips check out the Mission-On resource by clicking on this link below. http://www.mission-on. co.nz/portal/search-page/?resourcetype=10

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