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What's New ArchiveRaising the profile of walking and cycling in New ZealandDecember 2008 This new guide released by the Ministry of Transport discusses the benefits of walking and cycling, looks at the current state of affairs for these transport modes in New Zealand, and considers the initiatives that could be implemented to increase the number of people walking and cycling as a means of transport and for enjoyment.
Asian Health Forum 2008 PresentationsOn 6 November 2008 ANA hosted its first forum aimed at promoting nutrition and physical activity in New Zealand's Asian Communities. Some forum presentations are now available to download. ANA 2009 National Conference: Registrations now open!For programme details, speaker profiles, abstract submission guidelines and registrations visit the ANA Conference 2009 page. Latest ANA Scientific Committee ReportLaunched 2 July 2008, the latest ANA Scientific Committee report shows parents can help kids with healthy eating and physical activity despite 'obesogenic' environments. Asian Health Forum6 November 2008, Sorrento in the Park, Auckland. This year ANA has been contracted by the Ministry of Health to facilitate the delivery of an Asian Health Forum. Presentations will focus on research into nutrition and physical activity behaviours of Asian New Zealanders. Workshops will provide an opportunity to discuss how to address specific nutrition and physical activity issues in Asian communities. The forum will be held on 6 November in Auckland. Further details will be posted at News and Events. Feeding Our Futures Campaign UpdateAugust 2008 While television, print and radio advertisements will continue to promote the campaign's key messages, the Health Sponsorship Council is now focusing its efforts on offering community partnership funding and social marketing training. Community partnership funding applications will open in October 2008 for events taking place between January and June 2009. If you are a community organisation or voluntary group planning an event that promotes healthy eating for families, you may be eligible for funding assistance.
HEHA Action ReportJuly 2008 The July issue of the HEHA Report is now available on the Ministry of Health website.
New Breastfeeding Social Marketing CampaignJuly 2008 On 28 July the Ministry of Health released a new social marketing campaign. The aim of the campaign is to help increase the number of babies being exclusively breastfed for six months and the proportion of infants who continue to be breastfed beyond six months.
Health Sponsorship Council Research UpdateJuly 2008 New Health Sponsorship Council research shows many parents and caregivers do not understand how diet impacts on health. For example, many parents and caregivers think they are doing okay if they eat fruit and vegetables a couple of times a week.
Government Response to Health Select Committee Inquiry into Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes3 December 2007 The government has released its response to the Health Select Committee Inquiry in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. While it says it is serious about tackling obesity by focusing on health promotion, obesity advocacy groups say the response falls short of introducing strong measure like banning the marketing of unhealthy food and drinks to children. Public Health Bill3 December 2007 A new Public Health Bill designed to improve and protect New Zealanders' health was released in Parliament on 21 November.
Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit Launched2 November 2007 Nutrition, tobacco control and equity in health will be the focuses of New Zealand's first Health Promotion Research Unit launched at the University of Otago, Wellington. The Health Promotion and Policy Research Unit (HePPRU) will work in collaboration with policy makers and advocates to advance the health of New Zealanders through independent research, teaching and community service.
Feeding our Futures Update1 November 2007 Phase 2 of the Feeding our Futures campaign, which began in October, is encouraging parents to go heavy on fruit and vegetables and light on packaged snacks. Main Messages:
For Feeding our Futures resources and other promotional material see www.feedingourfutures.org.nz. World Cancer Research Fund International Report1 November 2007 A new report has been released by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute of Cancer Research showing a link between obesity and six types of cancer. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer – A Global Perspective also looks at breastfeeding as a protective mechanism against breast cancer. Ten recommendations are made regarding diet and exercise to help avoid cancer.
An Indication of New Zealanders' Health1 November 2007The Ministry of Health has released An Indication of New Zealanders' Health 2007. The report, produced by Public Health Intelligence, provides a snapshot of the health of the population. Findings include:
Download An Indication of New Zealanders Health 2007. Food Security Report18 October 2007 Te Hotu Manawa Māori and the Obesity Action Coalition have released Food Security among Māori living in Aotearoa. The report summarises research to date about Māori and food security, and highlights programmes to address this issue. Food Advertising Report Released by OAC18 September 2007 The Obesity Action Coalition has launched Would you like lies with that?. The report aims to inform about the influence food and beverage television advertising has on children's health.
Health Select Committee Report Released31 August 2007 The Health Select Committee has released its report of the Inquiry into Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Feeding our Futures LaunchedMay 24 2007 The Feeding our Futures healthy eating campaign was launched on 24 May by Health Minister Hon Pete Hodgeson at the ANA conference. Feeding our Futures is a new national social marketing programme designed to help parents and caregivers ensure their children are getting a healthy diet. The first stage of the programme is a mass media campaign that will inform parents about healthy eating in the home.
New Evidence Sets Course for Social Marketing Approach to Healthy EatingApril 2007 Two new reports released by the Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) offer the public health sector an overview of evidence for nutrition-related social marketing. The reports inform the development of social marketing interventions that promote healthy nutrition practices and environments to help prevent obesity. The first report, Rapid Evidence Review of Nutrition Social Marketing Interventions to Prevent Obesity, focuses on effective social marketing interventions identified by the World Health Organization as causing obesity. These include
Overall the report's findings reflect the reality that social marketing interventions aimed at improving nutrition are relatively new and the evidence-base is still emerging. It also identifies a number of factors important for effective nutrition-related social marketing. Its findings are complemented by a report summarising the views of key informants from the nutrition sector, the food industry and related organisations. Twenty-four people were interviewed to ascertain their views on the proposed direction and content of the first stage of the Healthy Eating Programme. Dr Sue Walker, HSC's Research Manager, says, "There was overall support for a social marketing approach to improve nutrition by helping New Zealanders adopt and maintain healthy nutritional practices. The key informants also agreed that healthy eating and preventing obesity are complex issues. Significant effort and commitment will be needed to achieve long-term behavioural change."
Mission On 2007The Government has announced a broad-based package of initiatives to give young New Zealanders and their families tools to improve their nutrition and increase physical activity. It is aimed at children and young people from birth to 24 years. The Mission On package contains 10 key initiatives:
Report says TV Watching Causes Teletubby ChildrenJuly 2006 A new report has found considerable evidence that watching television contributes to childhood obesity. The cause is likely to be its effect on dietary intake, particularly of high-calorie, low-nutrient food, rather than decreased physical activity. Does watching television contribute to increased body weight and obesity in children? was commissioned by Agencies for Nutrition Action. It found that every hour children spend watching television increases their risk of becoming obese. Children watching the most television had double the risk of becoming obese. No Magic Bullet But Banning Sugary Drinks a Start7 July 2006 We are extremely disappointed that two health professionals have chosen to criticise the plan to ban sugar-laden soft drinks from schools to help control the obesity epidemic.
Cost Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent Childhood Obesity Report – 2006The final report of a two-year project funded by the Victorian Department of Human Services that assessed the cost-effectiveness of interventions to prevent childhood obesity in Australia (ACE-Obesity project) is now available. The work selected 13 interventions for evaluation and health benefit was measured as savings in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) using the best available evidence. The purpose of the study is to inform health promotion practice and policy. Advertising and Food Update – 2006In March 2005, ANA held a seminar on advertising and food. The keynote speaker, Professor Gerard Hastings, discussed findings from British research in this area. One of his suggestions for change was to advertise healthy food more often and restrict the advertising of unhealthy food. Obviously, in order to do this there is a need to define what is 'healthy' and 'unhealthy'. In Britain the Food Standards Agency is attempting to do this with a proposed nutrition profiling model that uses a simple scoring system to rate the overall balance of nutrients in food. It identifies foods that are high in fat, salt or sugar, but recognises the importance of fruit and vegetables, cereal, meat, and dairy-based products in the diet.
Food Marketing to Children and Youth ReportDecember 2005 How marketing influences children and youth is the focus of a report from the United States that summarises the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on the diets and health of children and youth. The report was written by the Institute of Medicine of National Academies and sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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