Aboriginal communities
Knowing what to eat and how much to eat is an important step to becoming healthier. Eating well can help to prevent many chronic illnesses including heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and high blood pressure.
Over time traditional bush tucker has become less available, while non-traditional foods have become widely available. Eating more non-traditional foods has led to changes in eating habits, leading to poorer health.
Selecting a variety of foods from the 5 food groups can help to get you and your family get back to good health. Learning about traditional diets and local bush tucker can also help connect to country and feel good.
The Get Healthy Service is a free, confidential phone coaching service which can help support you to reach your individual lifestyle goals. Male and female Aboriginal coaches are available through this service. Whether you wish to eat better, move more, reduce your alcohol intake or just get some general advice the Get Healthy Service can help.
Munch & Move is a program to support healthy eating for children in early education and child care services. The program promotes healthy eating and helps to establish healthy habits from an early age. Key messages support healthy foods provided by services, healthy lunchboxes and water as the drink of choice.
Kids need foods to fuel them through the school day.
- Live Life Well @ School promotes a whole of school approach to healthy eating.
- The NSW School Canteen Strategy supports canteens to include healthy options on the menu. Providing healthy foods in the lunchbox can help your child stay focused and have enough energy for learning and play throughout the day.
- The Lunchbox planner is a helpful tool to organise what to pack for your child and reduce waste.
The NSW Aboriginal Knockout Health Challenge is a free program where you can come together with your mob to eat healthy and live a more active life. Get in touch with our team to find out more mnclhd-hp@health.nsw.gov.au.
The Healthy Ageing Online Learning program is a free program that helps you make small changes to improve your health and wellbeing. Learn about healthy eating, getting active and falls prevention at your own pace from the comfort of your own home.
You can access:
- eight online learning modules with quizzes
- two online exercise programs designed for beginners with videos so you can follow along at home
- fact sheets with helpful tips and information
- an exercise manual and logbook with images and easy-to-follow instructions
The Healthy Eating Active Living NSW website has some healthy recipes to get you started. Check out Get Healthy for the Mob to find out more about programs for Aboriginal people that can help you and your family with what to eat and how to get active.