Reducing childhood obesity update

From the Ministry of Health and partner agencies

May 2016

Welcome to the first edition of the Reducing Childhood Obesity Update. Each quarter we’ll send you emails on the various initiatives within the Childhood Obesity Plan as well as other childhood obesity-related activities being undertaken by the government agencies involved in the Plan.

Childhood obesity plan background

The Childhood Obesity Plan was announced in October 2015 and aims to prevent and manage obesity in children and young people up to 18 years of age.

The plan has three focus areas, made up of 22 initiatives, which are either new or an expansion of existing initiatives:

  1. Targeted interventions for those who are obese
  2. Increased support for those at risk of becoming obese
  3. Broad approaches to make healthier choices easier for all New Zealanders.

The focus is on food, the environment and being active at each life stage, starting during pregnancy and early childhood. The plan brings together initiatives across government agencies, the private sector, communities, schools, families and whānau.

Development of this initial package drew on recent New Zealand and international evidence including the interim report from the World Health Organization’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. The final report has since been released and is available on the WHO website.

Find out more about the Childhood Obesity Plan

Play.Sport launched at Upper Hutt school

Play.sport is a fresh approach to PE and sport in schools and communities and was officially launched at Pinehaven School, Upper Hutt by Minister for Health, Sport and Recreation Jonathan Coleman in March.

The initiative, led by Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ), is aimed at ensuring young people are getting quality PE and sport at school so that they remain active and sporty for life.

Play.sport supports the ongoing development of quality physical education in schools for the development of young people. This new initiative incorporates the social and emotional skills already present in some physical education programmes, as a foundation for a community wide physical literacy approach, which encourages people of all ages to enjoy a life-long love of sport and physical activity.

Play.sport is currently available as a pilot in 41 schools in Upper Hutt and Waitakere.

Find out more about Play.sport

Physical activity guidelines for under 5s

A review into the current resources and guidance on physical activity for children under-five was released earlier this month. The findings and recommendations will help inform new guidelines to be developed in conjunction with Sport NZ and the Health Promotion Agency.

Find out more about the review
 

Health Star Ratings consumer campaign

The Health Star Rating (HSR) consumer campaign started in mid-March 2016 and runs until June 2018. The HSR system for packaged foods is about making it quicker and easier for consumers to make better informed healthy food choices.

The first phase of the campaign concentrates on raising awareness and recognition of HSRs by household shoppers. The campaign includes a series of short videos explaining how Health Stars work. 

Consumers will also see information in the cereal aisle of Countdown supermarkets and in household grocery mailers. Adshels (bus stop posters) to strengthen awareness of HSRs and build the connection between online and in-store promotion were on display in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for two weeks during March.

View the campaign videos

View the campaign materials

Find out more about Health Star Ratings

Healthy Families New Zealand update

Healthy Families NZ takes a whole-of-community approach to improving nutrition, increasing physical activity, and reducing tobacco and alcohol-related harm, in order to prevent chronic disease. 

This approach challenges communities to think differently about the underlying causes of poor health, and to make changes – in schools, work places, sports clubs, marae and other community settings – to help people make healthier choices.

Healthy Families NZ is being implemented in 10 locations across New Zealand and has the potential to impact the lives of over one million people. 

Recently, the Healthy Families NZ workforce supported school communities to adopt water and plain milk only policies. This involved facilitating community leaders to get behind the push for water-only in schools, and telling the story of schools that have already adopted the approach and the benefit for their students.

Find out more about Healthy Families NZ

Encouraging schools to adopt water-only policies

In late March the Ministries of Education and Health sent a message out to schools encouraging them to adopt a water and plain milk only policy. A sugary drinks poster was developed by the Health Promotion Agency and policy templates were provided to schools.

Find out more about water-only policies
 

Nutrition, physical activity and obesity/weight management research

The Weight Management website, managed by the Ministry of Health, focuses on New Zealand nutrition, physical activity and obesity/weight management research. There is information on New Zealand researchers, news and upcoming conferences, New Zealand health promotion resources, as well as links to useful tools. The site also links to relevant international research.

Find out more and register

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Contact us

If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Ministry of Health Reducing Childhood Obesity Programme Team