What Is The Active Families Programme?

A health intervention programme aimed at 5 - 18 year olds and their families living within the Dunedin area who are looking for support and guidance towards achieving a healthy balance of regular physical activity and good nutrition.

Who Can Take Part?

Families can be referred to the programme by their GP, paediatrician or practice nurse.  Families can also self-refer to the programme if they feel their health is suffering as a result of inactivity.

How Does The Programme Work?

• Interactive Educational Workshops.  All you need to know to kick start a healthier lifestyle for your family through the right balance of physical activity and nutrition.  Group games and family challenges help to explain the 'how' and 'why' to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

• One-To-One Consultations.  Face-to-face support and encouragement to help you make positive lifestyle changes, through goal setting and family action plans agreed during family meetings.

• Family Activity Sessions.  Physical activity sessions will provide opportunities for families to spend time together trying fun activities that encourage habitual change.  Team building activities will raise your child's confidence and self-esteem with emphasis on positive role modeling for your child's physical and social development.

• Practical Cooking Workshops.  Tips and ideas on healthy, low cost meal and snack options and how to encourage your children to eat more fruit and vegetables.  Cooking demonstrations and hands-on cooking experience for all the family to try.

Why Is Physical Activity And Nutrition So Important?

We are all designed to run and move around but over time with advances in modern technology this primary function has become redundant dues to cars, lifts, escalators and the internet.  People are becoming more and more sedentary and as a result our body is finding it harder to burn all the food we ingest.

Physical activity is important for a child's social, physical and emotional development.

For children physical activity is an essential building block.

Active play helps children to make sense of the world around them, through exploration and problem solving.

Through play they develop the social skills needed for adulthood, they learn how to communicate and play with others.  They master practical skills, gain in strength, flexibility and endurance and develop self-confidence and self-esteem.

Physical activity can be the bridge to strengthen family relationships and ensures quality family time.

For further information on Active Families and how your family can get involved contact Sarah McLennan on 03 474 6416 or click This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Active Families Articles

You can read Kims' articles about Active Families from our ACTiVATE magazine by clicking on these links.  (Note: these files are about 2 - 4mb and may take a couple of minutes to load on a slow internet connection.)

Spring 2011

Winter 2011

Autumn 2011

Summer 2011

Spring 2010

Winter 2010

Autumn 2010

Summer 2010

Active Families Success Story

The Kirk family joined the programme in February 2010 hoping to increase their fitness level and improve their concentration and self-esteem through achieving a healthier lifestyle. Margaret explains the barriers she encountered early on:

“One of the main areas I struggled with was knowing what meat portion sizes to have at meal times but it’s all good now and we eat lots of chicken and fish dishes with salads or stir fry’s”

From the very start their focus was to become healthier together as a family and Margaret took up the mantle of becoming a positive role model to her children, Chenaya (7) and Tamati (4). They started by making small changes to their diet such as changing from dark blue to green milk, increasing their water intake and reducing the amount of fizzy drinks and lollies they were consuming each week. They also cut back on the number of takeaways they were getting to once a month. Over a 6 month period they made the commitment to regularly attend the Active Families practical sessions and achieved a near 100% with Margaret winning an award for ‘best role model’ at graduation in June.

The family has made the most of their environment by going for daily walks around Dunedin come rain or shine. Their walks have taken them around Middleton Road field, Logan Park, Harbour walk from the Edgar Centre and the Ravensbourne Railway walk. Margaret also takes the children for bike rides around the ‘Whale’ Park as they call it to improve their cycling proficiency and encourage active play. When asked what their secret to maintaining good activity levels was Margaret said:

“Not thinking about it, just getting out there and doing it because you always feel better afterwards. Even though the house work suffers, our walks are more important”

When asked what health benefits they were noticing from increased physical activity and improved nutrition since starting the programme in February Margaret said:

“I can walk and run with the kids now and breathing has gotten a whole lot easier for us all. Our energy levels have increased and so has motivation and I’ve managed to get all the children at Tino-E-Tasi Kindergarten out walking with me every day.”