LIFE Co-ordinator, Ben Bowen, says the program aims to teach Indigenous Australians about nutrition, health and anti-tobacco behaviour. “Breakfast is one of the most skipped meals, you see a lot of kids turning up with V’s or cans of coke to school, so we are looking to change that behaviour and that early-morning structure does help getting the kids in the right headset for the day.”
The program also seeks to engage kids in physical activity. “We are hoping to set up some traditional Indigenous games, just to have some fun and get kids to experience a range of sports and fitness,” Mr Bowen said.
As part of the program kids are also taught about what foods should go in their lunchboxes and identifying how different foods interact. “It’s terrifying when you ask kids now where do bananas come from and they say the supermarket or what animals do different types of meat come from and they stare blankly back at you. There is a real sort of detachment.”
The breakfast program also builds on the LIFE (Lifestyle Innovation For Everyone) concept. The idea of health goes beyond just physical activity, nutrition and anti-tobacco behaviour, raising an increased awareness about how lifestyle choices can affect your life expectancy.
“We use the example that a bio-age is your chronological age plus or minus years depending on your health practice. We try and explain to kids that our elders are dying 17 years earlier than the national average which can be changed due to lifestyle choices around medicines, physical activity, nutrition and social parameters,” Mr Bowen said.
The Healthy Start breakfast program is just one initiative under NCIE’s LIFE program addressing healthy living.
