10275 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health

10275 (2024). Hon Dr Ayesha Verrall to the Minister of Health: What progress, if any, has been made in the quarter October – December 2023 to ‘Commission approaches to support greater health and wellbeing making the healthy choices the easy choice for people at risk of chronic conditions and for families raising small children’ under section 2.1 ‘Pae ora Better health in our communities’ within Te Whatu Ora’s Te Pae Tata: Interim New Zealand Health Plan 2022?

Hon Dr Shane Reti: I am advised that during the October - December 2023 quarter, Health New Zealand supported a range of activities aimed at making healthy choices an easy choice for people at risk of chronic conditions, and for families raising small children. These included: - ‘From the Couch’ programme (a free 12-week programme that supports people at risk of chronic conditions), run in partnership with Brown Butterbean Motivation and Total Healthcare, continued to be delivered in South Auckland Māori and Pacific communities. - Lifestyle education was provided to patients with pre-diabetes and their whānau (lead by the Diabetes Care Coordinators at Diabetes New Zealand) - The Heart Health Plan pilot which helps people create lifestyle goals around making healthier choices for improved heart health progressed with two more locations added. - Healthy Families Waitākere, in collaboration with Hoani Waititi Marae and Community Waitākere, integrated the Mana Motuhake o te Kai framework and toolkit, which embodies an ao Māori worldview, to guide kai projects and initiatives towards achieving kai security and sovereignty in West Auckland. - Healthy Families Waitākere launched an initiative named Minoi (movement in Church), fostering culturally and spiritually centered physical activity within Pasifika communities in their places of worship, with six churches presently engaged and several talanoa sessions conducted. - Healthy Families Far North collaborated with the Far North District Council and Kerikeri's local rangatahi to explore ways to encourage more youth to use active transport to travel to and from school. - Healthy Families Hutt Valley ran the All Star of the Week initiative, a collaboration between local councils and sporting organisations across greater Wellington, offering free swimming pool entries as an alternative to traditional player of the day certificates with unhealthy rewards; benefiting 78 junior sports clubs and 17 sports codes, and reducing fast-food vouchers for tamariki