New Zealand Situation - Physical Activity

Physical Activity
New Zealand Situation

Promotion of physical activity is currently led by SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand is the Government organisation responsible for monitoring physical activity in New Zealand). SPARC co-ordinates a number of national and local programmes such as Green Prescriptions and Push Play, and He Oranga Poutama.

These programmes aim to get more people more active more often. The SPARC Participation Division has teams working specifically in the Health, Education and Active Community sectors.

The Ministry of Health purchases nutrition and physical activity services throughout the country. Public Health Units account for half of the current expenditure, and services are also provided through Māori led services, some Pacific providers, and non-government organisations (e.g., the National Heart Foundation).

Encouraging and supporting New Zealanders to be more physically active requires the commitment of a number of key sectors.

These include:

recreation
sport
education
transport
environment
health; and
media.

Settings include:

preschool
kohanga reo / language nests
schools
tertiary institutions
marae
churches
homes
workplaces
public facilities, and
the physical environment, including parks, roads, footpaths, gymnasiums and other physical activity facilities, cycleways and communities.

Interventions to increase physical activity range from those focused on the individual to those targeting communities and populations.

These include:

advocating for and developing healthy public policy
public education (including media campaigns)
personal skill development
empowering communities to be more physically active through community development initiatives (e.g., establishing walking groups and exercise classes)
exercise prescription in primary healthcare, and
improving the physical environment.

Local councils in particular play a very important role in terms of providing safe and accessible environments for physical activity (eg, swimming pools, parks, cycleways, skateboard parks, street lighting, etc).

The Ministry of Health has developed an Implementation Plan for its Healthy Eating Healthy Action Strategy. The Healthy Eating – Healthy Action Strategy addresses nutrition, physical activity and obesity together. The implementation plan recognises the role of a number of different agencies and sectors and the need for action at all levels of society.