The
Ministry of Health (2004) confirms that “...increased efforts to
monitor and control childhood obesity are critical for the health of future
generations of adults...”, thus demonstrating their concern for this social
issue (p. 82). The Ministry of Health supports its concern by
providing a
background paper called
Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy Infants and Toddlers (Aged 0-2): A background paper (FNG) (2008), which
is a
legislative
instrument under the
Legislative Instruments Act 2003. This legislative instrument provides a
policy base for implementing the three key messages of the
Healthy Eating – Healthy Action: Oranga Kai – Oranga Pumau (HEHA): A strategic framework (Health Strategy), launched in
2003, which is also one of The Ministry of Health's (2003)
responses to this social issue: obesity.
McLean et al. agrees with this as they state that "New Zealand's response to the obesity epidemic has been
The Healthy Eating-Healthy Action: Oranga Kai - Oranga Pumau Strategy to address growing concerns over poor eating habits, lack of physical activity, and the associated
prevalence of obesity and increased risk of adverse health outcomes that result" (2009, p. 2).
The three
key messages, mentioned above, are: to
improve nutrition, reduce obesity, and
increase the level of physical activity and well-being for all (Minister of
Health, 2000). This Health Strategy was set out as a guideline for everybody’s use: education institutions across the
board, as well as private individuals (Healthy Eating Healthy Action, 2003). The HEHA, according to McLean et al. identifies the
significance of "...reducing health inequalities and the
Treaty of Waitangi, a treaty signed by M
āori and the Crown in 1840..." (2009, p. 2). Deeply
embedded in New Zealand health legislation, are the
Treaty of Waitangi's principles of partnership, participation, and protection (Kingi, 2007; Ministry of Health, 2012). These New Zealand Health and Education Strategies, which
include the FNG, focus on
creating healthier environments in order to
tackle the growing rate of
overweight and obese infants and toddlers, using ECES as one of their main
springboards in this endeavour (Ministry of Health, 2003
b; Ministry of Health,
2004).
Under the HEHA Strategy, the ‘
Mission-On’ campaign has been developed to
help contribute to the
implementation of this Health Strategy (Minister of
Health, 2003). This campaign has
one particular
aim, which is “...to improve
nutrition within early childhood environments...” (Minister of Health, 2003, p.
12). Mission-On is a joint campaign supported by the Ministries of Health,
Education, Youth Development, and
Sport New Zealand. The Ministry of Education
has furthered this campaign, and set out the following guidelines –
Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Healthy,
Confident Kids’ which “...covers developing policies and procedures about
food and beverages provided on site, and
promotes consistent messages about
healthy eating” (Ministry of Education, 2007). This was released into ECES in March
2007, thus giving advice on how to assist teachers to combat the level of
overweight and obese children in ECES.
In addition to these policies and
guidelines, the National Heart Foundation offers
The Healthy Heart Award (HHA) for ECES, “...a free programme partially
funded by the Ministry of Health ... assisting early childhood services in
creating an environment that promotes healthy eating and physical activity to
under 5s and their families” (
National Heart Foundation, 2002, para. 1). The HHA was also promoted by Sport Hawke's Bay. This
‘Healthy Heart Award’ acts as a
significant goal for most ECES as there are “...three
levels of awards to recognise their achievements and seven criteria required to
gain an award” (National Heart Foundation, 2002, para. 3). The ECES that I
currently work for has utilised this programme, and
has achieved the HHA. I, along with the rest of my colleagues, took part in implementing
this programme into our curriculum. We achieved all levels, and met all seven
criteria. We attained this HHA last year in 2012; I am
extremely proud to have been a part of this accomplishment.
All aspects of ECES are close to my heart and I
fully endorse and support the above policies and strategies the government has
put in place to help eradicate the childhood overweight issue. I believe
healthy eating and physical activity go a long way towards a strong mind and
body, which prepares young children to be receptive to learning and
intellectual growth. Ministry of Education (2007) supports this by stating that
“Making connections with healthy food and nutrition choices affects aspects of
the children’s learning and development, for example, by serving a balance of
familiar and unfamiliar foods and establishing routines around mealtimes that
encourage enjoyment” (para. 42).
Research shows that there may be many
barriers to
participation of ECES in the recommendations of those legislative instruments (Dowman, 2006).
Since 2005, Sport Hawke's Bay has offered many different programmes, including the HHA, mentioned above, in Hawke's Bay ECES. An evaluation conducted in 2008 showed that "...in the
34 ECES surveyed, the programmes were
linked, well suited to their needs, and were running successfully" (Mara, Ashcroft, Stockdale-Frost, & Karekare, 2008, para. 1).
However, in 2009, Sport Hawke's Bay noted that many
ECES, including
Ngā Kōhanga Reo, did
not choose to take part in the HHA programme offered.
Sport Hawke’s Bay’s Mara et al. conducted an evaluation, in 2010, to
find answers to why ECES were
not participating. This evaluation examined the
factors that inhibited ECES' involvement in the
programmes, in other words, barriers.
Some of the
barriers to
participation in the HHA
I have
identified include:
socio-economic factors, lack of literacy,
cultural inequities, language
differences,
lack of motivation, and, most importantly, lack of structure in
curriculum planning. These barriers would therefore
impact on both ECES and parents. Furthermore, the challenge by ECES
to achieve the Award could be seen as a
competition between the different ECES within
a community. Instead of a
celebration of accomplishment, a
divide could be
established causing further unnecessary
rivalry.
Results of the 2010 evaluation, mentioned above, demonstrated that although there were
many barriers to participation, ECES involved in the HHA
increased from
34 in 2008 to
65 in 2010 that implemented the HHA (Mara, Ashcroft, Stockdale-Frost, & Karekare, 2010). The following are the barriers that were identified in the 2010 evaluation: "...[ECES] believing that they are
already
including key components of
healthy eating and active movement within their
curriculum, [seeing]
no need for taking up the [HHA] programme; that the amount
of
documentation required by the HHA is viewed as
onerous and acts as a
deterrent to completing the programmes; that
some Ngā Kōhanga Reo would like to
be able to report within their
own kaupapa frameworks, including in Te Reo
Māori and, the
need to have
recognition and support for this point of
difference for Ngā Kōhanga Reo by Sport Hawke's Bay and the National Heart Foundation" (Mara, Ashcroft, Stockdale-Frost, & Karekare, 2010, para. 4). It is of interest to me, that my observations about barriers to participation are
parallel with the results of the evaluation.
Within the
HHA,
there are key
strands that link into the
New Zealand early childhood curriculum (ECC)
–
Te Whāriki’s (Ministry of
Education, 1996) key
principles;
illustrated in
the special woven mat (Heart Foundation, n.d.).
These four principles of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996) underpin
practices in ECES and provide a basis for including food and nutrition
guidelines, thus supporting those legislative instruments above.
Te Whāriki – The Early Childhood
Curriculum
Four broad
principles are at the centre of Te Whāriki, the ECC:
- Empowerment – the ECC
empowers the child to learn and grow
-Connecting with the Learning and Teaching strand
- Holistic
Development – the ECC reflects the holistic way children learn
and grow
-Connecting with the Governance and Management strand
- Family and Community – the wider world of family and
community is an integral part of the ECC
-Connects
with the Collaboration strand
- Relationships – children learn through
responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things.
-Connects
with the Professional Development strand
These principles of Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996) link into the strands of
the HHA, produced by the National Heart Foundation, therefore suggesting that the HHA has been carefully designed in order to work in with the New Zealand ECC, which supports the implementation of the HHA.
Moreover,
Te
Whāriki’s first goal of the
Well-being strand of the curriculum states that
“Children [must] experience an environment where their health is promoted”
(Ministry of Education, 1996,
p. 15). This
goal provides a context in which children can
develop a disposition to make
health-related
choices, including those of food selection and physical
activity, provided to them by their ECES, which have been supplied by the
Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health.
In regards to the HEHA,
Labour politician Annette King, Minister of Health
(2002), stated that she was certain that the implementation of the policy HEHA would have a
positive effect on the health of New Zealanders, both adults and children.
My analysis of this HEHA policy draws to the conclusion that, although the
policies named are
exemplary, where human-beings are involved, there may always
be
challenges and contradictions. This reminds me of the saying by
John Lydgate (1370-1451) "you
can't
please everybody all of the time". Perhaps to
countermand my sentiment,
Bronwen King, a Christchurch public
health
nutritionist would say, in support of
these policies, that within ECES, “Education settings
provide numerous and
diverse opportunities for children and young people to make decisions about
food, so it is important that these environments are
structured to promote
healthy eating” (2010, para. 17).
Ministry of Education (2007) supports the implementation of the
FNG stated above, and suggests that “Teachers and
educators in early childhood education services play an important role in
fostering knowledge and understanding about healthy food and nutrition and in
providing opportunities for children to make healthy choices, therefore the
implementation of the Food and Nutrition Guidelines is necessary” (para. 30).
I surmise that after this examination and critique, ECES should embrace the above government guidelines and legislative instruments, to provide an environment where children can learn how to stay healthy, to develop self-help, self-care skills, which result in self-confidence and good self-esteem (Te Whāriki, Ministry of Education, 1996). Children can therefore develop working theories about nutrition;
for example, they may begin to develop skills in food preparation, to develop
knowledge of healthy food choices, and to understand the cultural importance of
certain foods. Te Whāriki recognizes that the child’s
learning environment extends far beyond the ECES, therefore it is important for ECES to provide healthy guidelines, which will effect a child's thinking about healthy eating and physical activity, both now and in the future (Ministry of Education, 1996).
Please watch this space for the following blog post which will be discussing the
effects of television and food advertising on childhood obesity.
References:
Kingi, T. (2007). The Treaty of Waitangi: A
framework for Māori health development. New Zealand Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 54(1), 4-10. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus database.
McLean, R. M., Hoek, J. A., Buckley, S.,
Croxson, B., Cumming, J., Ehau, T. H., . . . Schofield, G. (2009).
"Healthy eating – healthy action": Evaluating New Zealand's obesity
prevention strategy. BMC Public Health, 9(1), 452-452. doi:
10.1186/1471-2458-9-452
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki:
He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa/Early Childhood Curriculum.
Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007). Food and
nutrition for healthy, confident kids. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning
Media.
Minister of Health. (2000). The New Zealand
health strategy. Wellington, New Zealand: Minister of Health.
Minister of Health. (2003). Health eating –
healthy action: Oranga kai – Oranga pumau: A strategic framework. Wellington,
New Zealand: Minister of Health.
Ministry of Health. (2003b). NZ food, NZ
children: Key results of the 2002 national children’s nutrition survey. Wellington,
New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
Ministry of Health. (2004). Tracking the
obesity epidemic: New Zealand 1977-2003. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry
of Health.
