Call to Employers, Churches, Marae to Support Healthy Lifestyles
CBDHB - July, 2007

There’s been a plea for community institutions to support their members and workers who want to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

A public health physician, Tom Robinson of the Counties-Manukau District Health Board, told the Public Health Conference in Auckland today that for individuals to swap a sedentary and high fat food lifestyle, they need the backing of organisations they are a part of.

Dr Robinson told the 320 public health workers a telephone survey of 2,520 adults in Counties-Manukau found the majority of them wanted to lead healthier lives, but found barriers to that.

“A third of adults in Counties-Manukau are overweight and a further quarter are obese.  These proportions are much higher among Maori and Pacific people and are growing rapidly.   The Counties-Manukau DHB, through its Let’s Beat Diabetes communications campaign, “Swap2Win”, is encouraging a swap to a healthier lifestyle to prevent diabetes and obesity within the community. The survey wanted to find out the best ways of supporting people to make this swap.

“The study found around 65 percent of people were interested in adopting a healthier way of life, but there were gaps in their awareness about healthy eating.  While more than 90 percent knew being active was good to control weight, only 55 percent mentioned controlling fat in the diet and only 33 percent mentioned portion size as important”.

Dr Robinson told the conference there were also gaps in their knowledge about how to avoid diabetes.  “Nearly 50 percent of people thought it was mainly those who eat a lot of sugar who get diabetes whereas less than one in five people identified body weight which is a far more important factor”.

 “The survey indicates employers, churches, marae and other organisations have important roles in supporting the local community to lead healthy lives by offering healthy food choices and incorporating time and scope for physical exercise.” Dr Robinson said.
 
The Swap2Win campaign is a part of the Let’s Beat Diabetes programme, which is a five year strategy driven by community partnerships aimed at tackling obesity and diabetes in the Counties Manukau population. There are currently more than 60 initiatives underway in the Let’s Beat Diabetes programme.