ministryofhealth
http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf
Health of Older People Team
Health of Older People in New Zealand
Email:
Post:
Health of Older People Policy
Population Health Directorate
Ministry of Health
P.O Box 5013
WELLINGTON.
District Health Board Contacts
DHB contacts for Health of Older People Strategy (July 2007) (Word, 35 KB)
Physical Activity
DHB Toolkit
Date of publication: June 2003
Summary
Key points
One-third of New Zealand adults are not physically active at levels sufficient to benefit their health. A physically active New Zealand population will benefit overall health.
Physical inactivity is second to smoking as a modifiable risk factor for poor health. It is associated with 8 percent of all deaths and accounts for over 2000 deaths per year.
Thirty minutes of physical activity of moderate intensity on most, if not all, days of the week can benefit health. Once active, people must be encouraged to remain active.
Adequate levels of physical activity can reduce the risk of premature death and poor health across a number of serious diseases and conditions.
Priority groups include:
inactive people
older people
children and adolescents
women with children and pregnant women
those at risk of or suffering from specific non-communicable diseases and conditions.
As tangata whenua, Māori require special attention under the Treaty of Waitangi. Māori generally already have high levels of physical activity. Physical activity provides a unique opportunity to advance Māori interests and to address other poor indicators of health status among Māori.
Reducing inequalities is a key approach, targeting Māori, Pacific peoples, people with disabilities, other ethnic groups and lower socioeconomic status groups.
District Health Boards can provide and support a range of physical activity promotions along with nutrition programmes by working collaboratively across sectors and with key organisations.
More emphasis needs to be placed on encouraging non-recreational (ie, transport and incidental activity) physical activity.
Schools, workplaces, communities and health care facilities are key locations in which to promote physical activity.
Healthy Eating - Healthy Action is the Ministry's nutrition, physical activity and healthy weight strategy. The five priority areas identified in this strategy are environments, children, lower socioeconomic groups, workforce and communication.
Publication availability
The publication is available in Word and PDF format below:
Physical Activity Toolkit (Word, 706 KB)
Physical Activity Toolkit (PDF, 393 KB)
Read our copyright information
Go to information about ordering and downloading publications
Publishing information
Date of publication: June 2003
ISBN 0-478-25665-5 (Website)
HP 3651
Related information
SPARC
SPARC (Sport and Recreation New Zealand) was formed in 2002 following the merger of the Hillary Commission, the New Zealand Sports Foundation and the policy arm of the Office of Tourism and Sport. The SPARC website has information on New Zealand statistics – how active are New Zealanders, how many people play different sports and common activities as well as information on participation in coaching and assisting sport for adults and children. SPARC also has information on recent publications, news, research, green prescriptions, Push Play, and other links.
Push Play