Eating away at bad health habits

14 March 2007

Eating away at bad health habits

A Healthy Eating – Healthy Action (HEHA) Development Manager has been appointed for the Bay of Plenty to lead a campaign to increase physical activity, improve nutrition and reduce obesity.

The Bay of Plenty District Health Board is one of the first DHBs to support the Ministry of Health’s HEHA strategic approach to improving nutrition across New Zealand by making such an appointment.

Cheryl Billett took over the new role on March 5. She has extensive public health experience at a local, regional and national level, and was part of the internal Ministry of Health HEHA steering group that developed the HEHA strategy and implementation plan, as well as other projects such as Fruit in Schools.

“This is a collaborative approach by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, and SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand), and many non-Government agencies such as the National Heart Foundation, the Cancer Society, Iwi providers, Hauora and PHOs,” says Cheryl.

“It can’t be achieved without this level of partnership.”

Cheryl will start by building and maintaining strong working relationships with these groups.

HEHA is the Government’s umbrella strategy that targets everyone, although the priority groups are children, low-income people, Maori and Pacific people.

Cheryl will lead the development of a HEHA strategic plan for the Bay of Plenty and establish a district education sub-group.

The first task of this sub-group is to support the implementation of the Food & Nutrition Guidelines in schools and early childhood centres.

Funding support is available so teachers can be released from classrooms for training.

These two initiatives are part of the Mission On strategy, which is sponsored by the ministers of education, health and SPARC that contributes to achieving the HEHA goals.

To enable schools and early childhood centres to develop innovative projects supporting HEHA, a Nutrition Fund has been established, starting from term two.

Other initiatives supporting the HEHA strategy include Fruit in Schools, Active Schools, School Food Programme, the ‘5+ a Day’, and the new Food and Beverage Classification System for schools.

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HEHA has several key messages:

- Eat a variety of nutritious foods

- Eat less fatty, salty, sugary foods

- Eat more vegetables and fruits

- Fully breastfeed infants for at least six months

- Be active every day for at least 30 minutes in as many ways as possible

- Add some vigorous exercise for extra benefit and fitness

- Aim to maintain a healthy weight throughout life

- Promote and foster the development of environments that support healthy lifestyles.

ENDS

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