The ACT's battle against the bulge has devoured the largest slice of health promotion funding in the past two years, a new report card has revealed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
From July 2013 to December 2015, more than 90 per cent of health promotion funding has been spent on programs addressing health outcomes associated with being overweight or obese.
Meanwhile, 6.8 per cent of funding was allocated for alcohol education programs, 2.5 per cent to smoking and 0.2 per cent to active ageing.
ACT Assistant Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris said about $6.8 million in health promotion grants were awarded in that period, meaning $6.12 million was spent on tackling obesity.
But she said this year the focus would be on highlighting smoking and alcohol-related harms, as well as helping older Canberrans maintain healthy eating habits and activity levels.
"There is a significant burden on our health system from a range of chronic diseases," Ms Fitzharris said.
Programs helping Canberrans to shape up included the Good Sports program, focusing on healthy eating in a sporting environment, and the Lyneham Preschool Healthy Lunchbox Project, using art to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables.
Both the Physical Activity Foundation's Ride or Walk to School Program and Heart Foundation ACT's LiveLighter campaign were granted about $600,000 each.
More than 52 schools have signed up to the Ride or Walk to School Program and two-thirds of participating schools have seen an increase in active travel.
The LiveLighter campaign managed to reach more than one in three ACT adults in its target age-group, with 58 per cent reporting they had made at least one dietary or physical activity change to try to lose weight.
Heart Foundation ACT chief executive Tony Stubbs said the grants program made it possible for the organisation to deliver this as a long-term project to tackle obesity.
"LiveLighter aims to explain why a grabbable gut and toxic fat around your internal organs is bad for your overall health, but it also provides plenty of practical tips, tools and resources that show how to maintain a healthy weight," Mr Stubbs said.
"This report card shows that the new approach of taking a longer-term view, based on evidence, can have a meaningful impact on the whole of our community."
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education was granted about $26,000 in total to run its Pregnant Pause and Women Want To Know campaigns in 2014 and 2015.
The foundation's chief executive, Michael Thorn, said extra funding had been approved to expand the Pregnant Pause program, which encouraged men to banish the booze in support of their pregnant partners.
Pregnant Pause was based on research that showed nearly three-quarters of pregnant women who drink do so with their partner. All the pregnant women who signed up for the challenge were able to complete their pregnancy alcohol-free.
"We were delighted with the recall we got on the Pregnant Pause message," Mr Thorn said.
"At the time, it was targeted at men supporting their partners to give up drinking during the pregnancy. That's obviously a pretty hard ask, but the research showed too often women were not supported in stopping drinking and that their partners can be really instrumental in stopping drinking during pregnancy. We found the message resonated."
Community organisations and groups and school communities can apply for the next round of Healthy Canberra grants until March 18.
