Key points:
- New research shows it can be more affordable to buy healthy food.
- The benefits of exercising and ensuring enough time for rest and quality sleep.
- Look for the Health Star Rating (HSR) to easily compare the nutrition of similar products.
The 2024 Living Healthy Report, Protecting the health of our future generations, focusing on children’s health is now available.
We’re excited that our Leap in! Brand Ambassador Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, was a key contributor to the report. As well as being a doctor at the Gold Coast University Hospital’s emergency department, Dinesh is a researcher in spinal cord injury and senior lecturer at Griffith University. He is also an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission’s Includability program and an advisory board member to Healthylife.
“All children benefit from healthy food choices, physical exercise and a healthy environment. This report highlights ways to empower all families to reach for good health, to pave the way for a good future for our children”, says Dinesh.
Shopping healthy can be more affordable.
Research from the 2023 Living Health Report found that 58% of Australians believed eating healthy food was expensive, so this year they investigated this feedback.
The results are in. Turns out it’s cheaper to buy and eat healthy. The research shows that families can save nearly 10% of their weekly shopping bill by using the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
The research team also found that savings if you buy seasonal produce, look out for specials on different brands and swap out meat for lower cost replacements here and there.
“Legumes such as lentils are a great low-cost way to make your meat go further. Throwing a can of brown lentils into your family spaghetti bolognese will boost the vegetable content, reduce cost and be good for health,” says Simone Austin, Healthylife Chief Health Officer and accredited practising dietitian.
Making it simple: look for the star rating.
It can be challenging to navigate food labels and ingredient lists and so the Healthy Living Report looks at the benefits of Health Star Ratings.
This front-of-pack labelling system rates the overall nutritional profile of packaged foods and helps shoppers compare the nutrition of similar products, typically in the same part of the shop.
HSR uses stars, from half a star to five stars, to provide a comparison between similar packaged and processed food, such as between two cereals or muesli bars. The more stars there are, the healthier the choice.
All four major supermarkets have committed to displaying HSR on 100% of their branded products, while manufacturers have been encouraged to apply it to their products.
Supporting parents.
The 2024 Healthy Living Report focuses on the four pillars of good health and has a section on each: Eat, Move and Sleep, Feel and Stay Healthy.
It’s a fantastic resource with tips that are easy to action. You’ll find strategies to help introduce healthy habits to kids when choosing foods, how to incorporate exercise into their daily life and ensuring enough time for rest and quality sleep.
Children’s emotional and mental health are critical to their overall health. Recognising early signs of mental health struggles and getting professional support is key to future wellbeing as adults. The report outlines the services available to parents.
Simone comments, “It is an investment to look after the health of our future generation. We need to create environments that promote healthy eating, movement, sleep health and access to healthcare to stay healthy.”
The report is available to download now and is a great resource for families to give their children the best start to adopting lifelong healthy lifestyles.