Families in Toowoomba will have access to a free government-funded healthy lifestyle program starting in June.
The program, called PEACH (Parenting, Eating and Activity for Child Health), was launched in September 2013 in response to rising rates of childhood obesity in Queensland.
It is being delivered by Queensland University of Technology and funded by Queensland Health under the National Partnership Agreement for Preventive Health.
Families with a child 5-11 years whose weight is above a healthy range for their age and gender are eligible for the program.
Program director and head of QUT's Exercise and Nutrition Sciences School, Professor Lynne Daniels, said the response to the program so far has been encouraging and indicated a genuine need for this type of community service.
"We currently have nine PEACH Program groups running in Queensland as part of the pilot implementation and we're excited about bringing the service to regional areas of the state including Winton, Townsville, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Toowoomba," she said.
"We hear parents say they are so relieved to be able to access this professional help because often they don't know where to begin.
"Acknowledging that their child may be overweight and then figuring out what to do about it can be very confronting."
Professor Daniels said if a parent thinks their child might be overweight they should go to their GP to have them weighed and measured as part of a standard health check or go directly to the PEACH website.
"Just like having a regular eye or hearing test, measuring a child's height and weight is part of tracking their growth and general health," she said.
"Parents should not feel guilty if they think their child is overweight, but they do need to make change in their family's lifestyle which is where the PEACH Program can help.
"By taking a parent-led approach, the program ensures that children are not stigmatised but that healthy change is made at a family level and therefore the benefits are there for all."
The program has been developed by dietitians and is being funded by Queensland Health under the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health - Healthy Children.
As part of the program, families attend 10 fortnightly sessions over six months, with additional support in the form of three phone calls. The sessions see parents learn and problem solve in a group environment while their children enjoy active play.
Some of the topics covered include nutrition skills, relationships with food, changing family lifestyle behaviours, making healthy eating affordable and overcoming barriers to being more active.
Families can contact the PEACH Program on free call 1800 263 519 or register directly at www.peachqld.com.au
Additional info:
•The PEACH™ program is evidence-based, internationally recognised and meets current guidelines and recommendations.
•Research shows that the program works. It has been evaluated as effective in a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)-funded trial the results of which were published in 2011 in Pediatrics, the official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
•In Australia, overweight and obesity rates in children has doubled over the past 30 years and in 2011-2012 in Queensland, one in four children is above their healthy weight.
9 April, 2014
Media contact:
Rose Trapnelll, QUT Media, 313 82361, 0407 585 901 rose.trapnell@qut.edu.au
