→ Yarra Valley Community Health Service, VIC

Jo Stanford is the dietitian with the Yarra Valley Community Health Service, based in Healesville, Victoria. Here she talks about the different aspects of their Good Food, Great Kids program, run in partnership with the local Indigenous community, which has helped turn around attitudes towards nutrition and healthy eating. The program was funded over three years by the Commonwealth Government, through the National Child Nutrition Program.

Even though we're on the outskirts of a major city (Melbourne) the health needs of the Indigenous community here are similar to those in Indigenous communities right across Australia. We see high numbers of people with diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other nutrition-related problems, many of which are preventable.

Some Indigenous children go to school without breakfast, some don't bring lunch, and some families spend more than they can probably afford on take-away food rather than healthy alternatives.

In 1998 we did a community needs assessment. From the results it was clear we needed to look at nutrition. So we sat down with the Elders from the local community and worked out a range of strategies to encourage healthy eating practices with kids, parents and families.

Down to Earth: a program with two local primary schools

Down to Earth made a big impact on the two participating schools – from what's served in the canteen to policies around healthy nutrition and cooking programs. There were kitchen gardens established in each school – the kids love them – and we ran a breakfast program in one. It was also terrific to see the kids learning about growing food, the environment and local Indigenous history and culture.

Nearly all the Indigenous children in the community go to one of the two schools. It's great to know that the changes made in those schools will now flow on to the younger kids that come through. The support of the principals, teachers and community Elders was vital to get the program up and running, and so well supported by the school community.

Wise Women & Spend Wisely: family nutrition programs

Wise Women was just a fantastic program. We had fortnightly or monthly meetings, where Indigenous women got together, talked, cooked dinner and then took it home to their families. The focus was very much on kids and how they eat – for instance, how you make zucchinis interesting, what to put in a school lunchbox or making sure kids have enough iron in their diet.

It was all very informal and the women loved getting together and having a chat, but Gail Crozier, our Indigenous Nutrition Support Worker, really made it a success. She was always bringing the discussion back to the kids.

Gail was the major reason the Spend Wisely program worked so well. She worked intensively with about 10 families – taking people shopping, cooking meals with them and teaching budgeting skills. We saw some terrific results – families were putting fruit and vegetables on the shopping list, they were making sure kids had breakfast before school. These are small changes but they can have a huge effect.

Healesville Community Garden

We called the community garden 'Womin-Jeka' which means 'welcome' in the local Wurundjeri language. One of the major goals was to help educate children, in particular, around the idea of fresh fruit and vegetables – getting your hands in the earth, the experience of growing things yourself.

It was also about creating a place where families could come together, get talking and hold community events – things that strengthen community ties.

With help from the local CDEP program, we built a gazebo, planted fruit trees and vegetables, and installed a water tank, worm farm and compost patches. The community garden had a lot of potential, during the three years we produced one summer crop, which included corn, tomatoes, strawberries, beans and zucchinis.

With funding to run the program for another three years we could really make the garden a place that community members felt they owned.

Find out more

Yarra Valley Community Health Service
Phone: 03 9895 4888
Website: www.easternhealth.org.au/yarra/yvchs.shtml