About the Project
The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has funded the MCCSA to run, Exercise and Eating Well Makes a World of Difference, a Healthy Active Australia Community and School Grants Program for youth in the South West Region of Adelaide.
Through the project we will work with youth from local primary schools to identify healthy aspects of nutrition and physical activity brought to South Australia by culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, and use this to develop practical strategies to encourage other youth to adopt healthy lifestyle practices.
The project is divided into two stages. The first will be run with schools in the City of Marion and the second with schools in the City of Holdfast Bay. Each school selects a CALD community and gathers information about the food, physical activities and culture unique to that community. The students are then required to pick one food and one activity from a CALD community and develop strategies for encouraging other young people to experience these at a community expo.
The research activities of the students are supported through workshops involving representatives of the selected communities. We have also secured the services of consultants from Nutrition Professionals Australia, One Eighty Sport and Leisure Solutions, and Jacob Gates Media and Design to help the students to understand and apply the principles behind good nutrition and healthy physical activities and to use web-based products to engage a wider audience.
Stage One in Marion
On 12 March 2008, we held the first workshop with four schools from the Marion Alliance; Ascot Park Primary, Clovelley Park Primary, Forbes Primary and Marion Primary. These schools have respectively selected the Greek, Sierra Leonian, Indian and Lebanese communities.
At the workshop students discussed the benefits of good nutrition and regular exercise and the current strategies being used to promote messages about healthy lifestyle choices. They explored how the different communities have developed their cultures with respect to food value (its nutritional, energy and health purposes), social interaction, environment, and holistic approach to wellbeing. They also examined ways in which websites can be designed and used to present information and key messages and to encourage interaction with a wide audience.
The students are currently gathering information about culture, food and physical activities, with a view to selecting one type of food and one activity from their country of choice. They will be promoting these to other young people and members of local communities at an expo to be held at the Cooinda Neighbourhood Centre (Marion) on 21 May 2008. They will also be looking at ways to integrate these into their school environments.