Pacific Child Health Day

Promoted as a fizzfree, SunSmart and smokefree event, water and fresh fruit supply was unlimited and various physical activity demonstrations provided crowd entertainment throughout the day.
There were fun activities for the kids such as face painting, a bouncy castle plus Heart Foundation mascot Hearty and Regional Dental Service mascot BarnaBee were there to entertain the crowds.
The Heart Foundation Wellington Branch centered on healthy eating around why people should choose brown bread, which milk type is best , real lunchbox examples / child portions and healthier options for takeaway foods.
The real lunchbox examples enabled parents to see cost effective healthy food options and suitable food group balances. They were also able to see how further savings could be made based on appropriate child portions.
Two options of Budget brown bread were made available for people to sample with vegemite along with some Hummus dip and rice crackers.  The Cheap Eats recipe book was extremely popular, as was the Tick Shopping Guide.
The most popular handouts were Healthy Lunches made easy, High Fat vs Low Fat takeaways, Which milk is best for me?, Easy to Make Hummus Recipe and quick easy snacks / low cost breakfast options.
“Effective community engagement is crucial to promoting positive attitudes towards healthy food and a key ingredient to ensuring heart health changes flourish in everyday life,” says Heart Foundation Pacific early Childhood Coordinator Sefulu Calvert.