Healthier campaign: Healthier. Happier
Healthier. Happier is a new campaign launched by the Queensland Government designed to turn around the health of the state. Research shows that Queensland has the highest rate of obesity in Australia. Around 65% of Queenslanders are overweight or obese, and 33% don’t realise it. On the campaign website it states, “The aim of the campaign is to get people to stop and think about what they did in the last week and then perform an honest evaluation of their lifestyle and diet through the Health and Fitness age calculator.”
An online tool, the interactive calculator prompts you to enter your age, sex, weight and height. Following this users are then requested to select an image of the body shape that best reflects their own. It questions the amount of alcohol users consumer each week, the amount of times they got their heart rate up for 30 minutes or more during the week and the amount of hours spent sitting each day, broken down into time at your desk, time watching television or time driving. Users are prompted to answer questions about the food they have eaten in the past week, in particular the serves of fruit and vegetables they have eaten, their consumption of soft drinks and energy drinks, and number of trips to the supermarket.
What is particularly valuable about this aspect of the calculator is that it educates users about exactly what constitutes a single serving of fruit, vegetables and other foods. Eating behaviours are even brought into question with users asked to indicate if they used an electronic device, or read a book or magazine while eating their meals. The line of questioning then moves to levels of activity, requiring users to indicate how much time they spent participating in activities such as playing with the kids, walking or gardening. Finally, users are asked to indicate whether they smoke, and if they do, the number of cigarettes they have on average each day.
Once users have finished inputting all these details the calculator produces a chronological age. However, so as not to encourage Queenslanders to sit on their laurels when it comes to their health, the calculator offers suggestions of things the user can do to further improve their health.
In addition to the chronological age calculator, the Healthier.Happier website features health and fitness tips, healthy recipes, and ideas to help individuals get moving, including short fitness videos. If you’re working with a client who is new to fitness or who may be struggling with their fitness journey, resources such as Healthier.Happier can complement the advice and guidance you give in your sessions. If you’re a fitness business owner, sharing these types of resources with your employees, and in turn your members, is a way to value add the physical services you provide. However, always remember that no resource replaces the advice of a health professional or dietitian.
Find out more about the Healthier.Happier campaign, here.
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