Today I am pleased to announce a $116 million package over four years to tackle the growing problem of declining physical activity and poor eating habits of Australian children.
Around 40 per cent of our children do not participate in organised sport outside school hours. An estimated 1.5 million young people under the age of 18 are overweight or obese and therefore may be at risk of preventable chronic conditions such as Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Only 30 per cent of Australians eat four or more serves of vegetables per day and only around half meet the daily recommendation of two serves of fruit.
While parents will continue to play the primary role in bringing up their children, we all need to tackle this issue - in partnership with school and sporting communities, with the health sector and food industry.
This package of measures will provide a new national framework and will include:
Active After-school Communities $90 million to establish an after school physical activity programme in schools and approved outside school hours care services, with about 150,000 children expected to participate.
Active School Curriculum New conditions of funding will require education authorities to include in their curriculum at least two hours of physical activity per week for children in primary school and junior high school.
Healthy School Communities $15 million for grants to community organisations linked with schools, such as parents and citizens' associations, to promote healthy eating.
Healthy Eating and Regular Physical Activity - Information for Australian Families $11 million to give Australian families practical help and information about how to make healthy eating and physical activity part of their everyday lives.
The $116 million Building a Healthy, Active Australia initiative recognises that we need a balanced approach towards nutrition and physical activity to promote healthy habits for life. Importantly, the package is focussed on children, because we know healthy and active children live better and learn better, and grow up to be more healthy and active adults.
There are many in the community - in the sporting, nutrition, health and education sectors - who are already doing good work in this area. I commend them for the good work they do. I also welcome the support of the sporting bodies, including Cricket Australia, Netball Australia, and the Australian Football League, for this national initiative.
I invite all Australians, through their local school, sporting group or community organisation, to become involved in building a healthy and active Australia.
Further details of the package can be found at www.healthyactive.gov.au