$2.8 Million for Healthier Lifestyle Projects in South Australia
New healthy eating and exercise programs, including getting your hands dirty in a community garden and learning to cycle safely will be on offer in four regions in South Australia to help combat obesity.
The Minister for Health and Ageing, Nicola Roxon, and local Federal Member for Makin Tony Zappia and Member for Wakefield Nick Champion today announced that four local government organisations in South Australia, including the City of Salisbury, will receive funding to run programs that will encourage and support people to adopt and sustain healthier lifestyles.
Each local government will receive a grant of more than $700,000 as part of the Gillard Government’s $72 million Healthy Communities Initiative, which aims to support local governments to promote healthy lifestyles in the community.
“We want to keep Australians well and out of hospital, and programs like Healthy Communities provide practical support to people looking to make a healthy change,” Minister Roxon said.
“The City of Salisbury is one example where they are introducing innovative physical activity and healthy eating programs in their communities that have been proven to make a real difference.”
“We know that preventive health measures work, that’s why we are encouraging people to adopt healthier lifestyles through initiatives such as these,” Mr Champion said.
“The Salisbury ‘Living well in the City’ program is a fun way for locals to improve their health and wellbeing,” Mr Zappia said.
The four South Australian local government organisations are among 33 nationally that will receive a total of $23 million under phase two of the Healthy Communities grants round. The grants are mostly in regional, rural and remote areas.
“Eighty per cent of the recommended local government areas have combined overweight and obesity rates above the national average and experience significant social and economic disadvantage so we are targeting this funding where it’s needed most” Ms Roxon said.
“These projects will focus on at-risk populations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, new wave migrants and those living with disabilities.”
The grants will be offered to the following local government organisations:
- City of Salisbury for the ‘Living Well in the Living City’ project
- City of Marion for the ‘Creating Bright Futures: A healthy lifestyle approach’ project
- Mid Murray Council for the ‘Healthie Murraylands Communities’ project
- District of Mount Remarkable for the ‘Southern Flinders Ranges LIFE Program’
For more information, contact the Minister's Office on (02) 6277 7220
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