Active families
Is your child overweight or obese and inactive? Do you worry about their health? Consider joining a Green Prescription (GRx) Active Families programme.
What is GRx Active Families
GRx Active Families is a free community-based health programme that helps you and your children to get active and learn about healthy eating.
Coordinators help your family to set goals and get involved in programmes with fun physical activities that children and parents can enjoy together.
The programme’s long-term goals are for the children to:
- be involved in regular physical activity — at least 60 minutes on most days of the week
- eat a wide range of healthy food options
- be healthier overall.
How to join GRx Active Families
You can be referred to GRx Active Families if your child:
- is school aged
- would benefit from being more active
- has poor eating habits
- is overweight
- has the support of whānau/family.
Talk to your GP, pediatrician or practice nurse about a referral.
GRx Active Families providers
The GRx Active Families programmes are provided by community organisations. To find the contact details for your region, go to Te Whatu Ora’s website.
GRx Active Families group activity/support sessions
Most regions have regular group activity sessions. These are held at community centres and may include:
- information and education about health, wellbeing and physical activity
- physical activity and healthy eating advice, goal setting and review
- cooking demonstrations, label reading and supermarket tours
- a physical activity session — this might include:
- fitness circuits
- modified games
- sports
- aquatic activities.
Children work as a group on individual goals and achievements, and get to meet and have fun with other children and families who are part of the programme.
If group sessions are not available in your area, your family will still receive support through face-to-face meetings and home visits.
Families and whanau can learn about healthy eating through their involvement in the Active Families programme. Participants enjoy hands on learning such as supermarket tours, label reading workshops and cooking. Watch this Sport Hawke’s Bay video to see how much fun cooking for the family can be.
Video: Green Prescription Active Families Whanau Cook Off
Monitoring your child’s progress
Your child’s progress will be monitored to make sure that GRx Active Families is working for them. A dietitian will be involved with nutrition monitoring.
Progress will be reported back to your referrer.
Leaving GRx Active Families
Once your child has reached the long-term goals of being healthier and more active, they will graduate from the programme.
Your GRx Active Families coordinator will help link them to other activities in the community. This ensures their lifestyle change is maintained — including daily physical activity by the whānau/family.