Request for parent healthy lifestyle education program as part of the WA Healthy Children Program

Scope of the Healthy Children Initiative
The Healthy Children Initiative specifically targets the risk factors of poor nutrition and physical inactivity among children.
The initiative’s scope nationally is guided by the Commonwealth’s Healthy Children Scoping Statement and Guiding Policy Principles.
WA Healthy Children Program
In order to receive the funding the Western Australian Department of Health was required to submit an implementation plan to the Commonwealth for approval. The Western Australian Healthy Children Program (WA HChP) implementation plan is based on a comprehensive review of existing priorities and programs as well as consultation with other key government agencies.
The approved State and Territory NPAPH implementation plans, including the public release version of the WA HChP implementation plan, are available at http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/national_partnership_agreements/health.aspx .
The WA HChP comprises programs to be delivered through a range of settings, including schools, childcare facilities, community health services and the community. The key initiatives to be funded are:
1. School settings
• WA Healthy Schools Project, to promote and support implementation of best practice healthy eating and physical activity initiatives into school policies, programs and environments.
• Services to motivate and support primary schools to implement the Crunch&Sip® Program.
• Services to support the implementation of the Department of Education’s Healthy School Food and Drink Policy in school canteens and other school settings.
• Development of food and nutrition curriculum support materials for teachers to use for kindergarten to year 10.
2. Other settings
• Childcare Healthy Lifestyle Scheme to support facilities to implement policy and practices that increase children’s healthy eating and physical activity.
• Parent support sessions for parents of children up to 12 years to provide them with the skills, confidence, resources and motivation to establish healthier eating and activity patterns among their children.
• Lifestyle Triple P to improve nutrition intake and physical activity levels in children aged 5 to 10 years who are identified as overweight or obese or ‘at risk’ of being overweight and obese by increasing parents’ skills and confidence in managing the lifestyle behaviours of their children.
• An online professional development resource to equip professionals working with parents to raise and constructively discuss the issue of child obesity with parents of overweight or obese children.
• A program to engage adolescents and provide practical skills and knowledge relating to cooking and to other aspects of food literacy such as budgeting, meal planning, purchasing and preparing healthy meals.
• Approaches to motivate and support child orientated venues to make structural and policy changes that will increase the provision of healthier food options and reduce the sale and marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks.
Further information is available in the public release version of the WA HChP implementation plan (Attachment A).
Benchmarks
The States and Territories have agreed to the following NPAPH performance benchmarks in relation to children:
• Increase in proportion of children at unhealthy weight held at less than five per cent from baseline for each state by 2013; proportion of children at healthy weight returned to baseline level by 2015.
• Increase in mean number of daily serves of fruits and vegetables consumed by children by at least 0.2 for fruits and 0.5 for vegetables from baseline for each State by 2013; 0.6 for fruits and 1.5 for vegetables by 2015.
• Increase in proportion of children participating in at least 60 minutes of moderate physical activity every day from baseline for each State by five per cent by 2013; by 15 per cent by 2015.