Assessment of reach of physical activity and exercise media messages to regional Western Australia

The ‘Kimberley Active; Getting Our Mob Moving’ campaign, is aimed at Indigenous communities in the Northwest. It seeks to promote physical activity to a broad cross-section of community members to improve their health status by incorporating exercise into their daily lives. AIM: The aim of this formative component of the project was to gain an understanding of the reach of physical activity and exercise advertisements to the residents in Broome, Western Australia.SAMPLE AND METHODS: A purposive sample of spectators who attended the local Australian Rules Football grand final held in a Broome on 27 August 2007 were asked to complete a brief survey around media messages they recalled hearing, reading or watching in the past six months associated with physical activity and exercise. Deliberate measures were taken to ensure a good response rate from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal adults.CONCLUSION: The results indicate that a significant number of respondents engaged in regular and long period of sedentary behaviours on a regular weekly basis. Furthermore, few respondents are active enough to gain any health benefits. Physical activity preferences suggested should be considered and several options tested in the larger campaign, budget permitting Most respondents did not consume the national nutrition target of two serves of fruit and five of vegetables daily. Listening to the radio was a common past-time. This media avenue should be further investigated as a cost effective means of delivering educational messages to a wide cross-section of the target group

Industry Guidelines for Seafood Health and Nutrition Messages

This guide has been written to assist the seafood industry to recognise and promote health and nutrition messages regarding seafood consumption and health.The guide summarises relevant regulations, legislation and guidelines governing use of health and nutrition messages to promote seafood on food labels and in advertising material. Although this guide provides the main points that should be considered when promoting the health benefits of seafood, it is recommended that the original documents are referred to when planning any labelling or advertising materials. A list of relevant websites and references are provided at the end of this guide. The guide also summarises scientific evidence regarding the health benefits of seafood consumption

Evaluation of the Womens Health Services Physical Activity Project to Encourage Women and Their Families to Become More Active

In 2008 the Womens Health Services in Northbridge, Western Australia, was the recipient of a Healthy Active Australia grant, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing. The aim of the funded project was to increase participation and physical activity levels of marginalised women by introducing them to a range of low cost, easily accessible exercise opportunities and by providing relevant health information. The program ran from late 2008 to early 2010. Program activities included the delivery of thirty three health information talks covering topics such as nutrition, healthy eating,relaxation, stress and the need for adequate levels of vitamin D, as well as forty two blocks of physical activity classes. Activities included swimming, yoga, pilates, gentle exercise and dancing. Other physical activities included three Come and Try days, four organised walks and six bike workshops.Five family activity sessions were also held over the funding period. A qualitative evaluation of the activities was conducted by Curtin University. Evaluation activities included eight focus groups with approximately sixty participants, eight one-on-one interviews with participants and fourinterviews with class instructors. Overall, participants were satisfied with the physical activity program they were participating in. Participants reported that the program had increased their levels of activity, in many cases by providing an opportunity to be active that they would not otherwise have. Barriers to engaging in physical activity included financial barriers such as a lack of money to pay for services andchildcare, a lack of affordable services and a lack of culturally appropriate facilities. Other barriersincluded personal factors such as a lack of confidence or a lack of motivation.Many women, especially those caring for children, did not have time to engage in physical activity outside of their sessions with the WHS. For these women, the sessions offered them 'time out' from the pressures of their everyday lives. Other women experienced mental health issues which affected their ability to engage in physical activity. In addition to providing women with the opportunity to be active, participants also reported experiencing physical and mental health benefits as a result of the program. The program gave participants the opportunity to mix with peers in a nonjudgmental environment, introduced them to new activities and provided the opportunity to learn new skills. This report presents the findings of an independent qualitative evaluation of participants' experiences with the program

A critical review of nutrition resources for general practitioners focusing on a healthy diet, including seafood

Background: General practitioners (GPs) are considered a trusted and reliable source of health-related information including nutritional advice. Preliminary investigation found that GPs wanted evidence-based nutrition resources that could be used within a 10 minute consultation. Aim: The aim of the study was to identify and critically review current resources available to GPs that promote seafood consumption within a healthy diet, as a preventative or treatment measure for common lifestyle or medical conditions. Methods: English language resources currently available to GPs in 2008 were sourced through multiple avenues including: individual organisations; medical service networks; health information services and internet search engines. Assessment included critical review of: format; appropriateness for target groups; reference to seafood and supporting evidence; credibility; readability; and suitability for use by practitioners in a short consultation. Results: One hundred and twenty resources were identified. The majority (88.4%, n=106) of identified resource were available electronically. Just over half (57.5%, n=69) of the resources were targeted at specific audiences. All of the resources made reference to the health benefits of regular consumption of fish (100%, n=120), 22.5% (n=27) made reference to seafood in general and 5% (n=6) made reference to fish oil. Only 15% (n=18) of the identified resources were suitable for use with the general Australian population at or below the recommended reading level of Year Eight. The majority (87.5%, n=105) of the identified resources were associated with credible sources of information about the health benefits of regular consumption of seafood.Conclusions: This study found that the majority of resources available to GPs were not suitable for use with the general Australian population at the recommended reading level of Year 8 or lower. Whilst it is acknowledged that written health information alone cannot change health behaviours, it can provide accurate information to assist in making changes to behaviours with support from appropriate health care professionals

Health benefits of seafood: A review of resources available to General Practitioners and Allied Health Professionals

This review focused on the collection and critical review of relevant resources that were available to General Practitioners (GPs) and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) to use with patients as either a prevention or treatment measure for common lifestyle or medical conditions. All resources reviewed were in English and were designed to be used during a five to ten minute consultation. The identification process realised 120 current resources associated with the health benefits of regular consumption of seafood as part of a healthy diet that could be used by GPs and AHPs. The resource topics included arthritis (seven), cancer (six), dementia (one), dental health (two), diabetes (three), heart health (30), nutrition (40), osteoporosis (six) and preconception, pregnancy and breastfeeding (25). The critical review of resources revealed information about the format, target group, reference to seafood, credibility and suitability of the identified resources.The majority of identified resources (88.4%, n=106) were available electronically as either PDF files or webpages, a preferable, quick and easy mode of access for GPs and AHPs. Just over half (57.5%, n=69) of the identified resources were targeted at specific audiences. All of the resources made reference to the health benefits of regular consumption of fish (100%, n=120), 22.5% (n=27) made reference to seafood and 5% (n=6%) made reference to fish oil as part of a healthy diet. Only 15% (n=18) of the identified resources were suitable for use with the general Australian population at or below the recommended reading level of Year Eight. The majority (87.5%, n=105) of resources were found to be ‘credible’ or ‘highly credible’. Resources that were found to be ‘definitely not credible’, ‘not credible’ or ‘somewhat credible’ (12.5%, n=15) were primarily due to information being provided by commercial entities with possible competing interests. In summary, the most pertinent outcome from this research was that only 15% (n=18) of the resources reviewed were suitable for use with the general Australian population at the recommended reading level of Year Eight or lower

Evaluation of the Gosnells Women's Health Service Healthy Lifestyles for Multicultural Women Program

In 2008 the Gosnells Women's Health Service (GWHS) was the recipient of a Healthy Active Australia grant. The aim of the grant was to increase the physicalactivity levels and healthy eating knowledge and behaviours of migrant women who access the GWHS. To achieve this aim the GWHS implemented learning activities for the target group, with the intention of increasing knowledge and changing behaviours for physical activity and nutrition. The physical activity component of the grant was implemented through swimming lessons and gentle exercise classes. Cooking and nutrition classes were held to teach the women about healthy and affordable foods.The swimming program attracted 118 participants, and 56 women participated in the gentle exercise sessions. The program increased most participants' physical activity levels by providing an opportunity to be active, as most women in the target group were not able to engage in physical activity for several reasons.The main barriers to physical activity in this group are a lack of affordable culturally appropriate (women's only) venues, and a lack of affordable child care. GWHS overcame these barriers by providing women's only activities and childcare. Twenty-seven women attended the cooking and nutrition classes. The classes increased women's knowledge of healthy and affordable foods which are available in Australia. The classes also assisted women, for whom English is a second language, with reading recipes. Nearly all participants who participated in evaluation reported cooking healthy meals at home for their families on completion of the sessions, and agreed that the sessions had increased their ability to do so. As a result of the program, the aquatic centre where the swimming lessons were held has agreed to continue running women's-only classes for those women who can attend the centre and pay for lessons

Supermarket and media audit of health messages relating to seafood

A supermarket audit was conducted to observe any health messages available to consumers that were being displayed near seafood products. Other messages displayed near seafood and other foods were also recorded.Forty three retailers were visited during January of 2009. In addition, a brief media scan covering the six months leading up to the audit was also conducted to identify other seafood related health messages that consumers were exposed to.Key findings from the audit included: -Of the 43 retailers visited, 13 (30%) displayed some kind of healthmessage. -Twenty health messages were identified. -Half of the messages (n=10) described specific benefits of seafood or fish consumption. -Most retailers (91%) displayed some kind of non-health related message near seafood products. -Meat products were linked to barbeques and Australia Day more often than seafood; however seafood was linked to health more often than meat or poultry products. -Fish oil products promoted the specific benefits of Omega 3 intake. -Media articles contain information on the health benefits of seafood, but this information was sometimes conflicting or confusing