Why increasing healthy eating is essential for health and wellbeing
Diets and the food environment have changed markedly over the past 30 years - easy access to prominently advertised discretionary foods and drinks make it harder to eat for good physical and mental health.
Many Victorians do not consume enough of the foods and drinks required to keep them healthy (such as vegetables, fruit and wholegrain cereals) and consume too many discretionary foods and drinks high in energy, saturated fat, added sugar, salt or alcohol.
This change has coincided with an increase in obesity, and contributed to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. Creating healthy and more sustainable food environments in public sector and community settings is a key strategy for increasing healthy eating that will have benefits for people and the planet.
What we want to achieve
- Increase access, availability and consumption of a wide variety of nutritious foods such as fruit and vegetables, as recommended by the Australian Dietary Guidelines.
- Prioritise implementation of policies that promote the uptake of healthy foods and drinks in key public settings (including health services, schools, early childhood services, workplaces, sport and recreation settings and events).
- Reduce children’s exposure to marketing of discretionary foods and drinks to reduce consumption.
- Promote healthy and more equitable, sustainable food systems across Victoria, with a focus on priority populations.
- Scale evidence-based approaches that promote breastfeeding and support parents and caregivers to provide good nutrition for their infants and young children throughout their first 2,000 days of life.
Evidence-based guidance
This page includes evidence-based guidance to assist partners in the implementation of actions to increase healthy eating across a range of settings, including implementation of the Healthy Choices food (and drink) supply policies or guidelines in key public settings.
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The consumption of healthier food and drinks helps support not only better physical health, but also supports good mental health and wellbeing and improved learning outcomes. It can also support good oral health and help prevent chronic disease in later life. Early childhood services and schools are ideal settings to create environments that support better health and learning outcomes.
Victorian Government food and drink supply guidelines and policies, help guide early childhood services, schools and outside school hours care (OSHC) with planning healthier food and drinks to provide to children. They are not intended to be used in point-of sale or consumer-facing promotional material, but are the invisible architecture that helps settings transition their food and drink environments to healthier offerings.
Healthy Eating Advisory Service
The Healthy Eating Advisory , a free service, funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by the National Nutrition , is available to inspire, motivate and support organisations as well as health promoters working with early childhood services, schools and OSHC with this work. This includes online training and a range of resources and tools to provide healthier menus and promote healthier food and drinks.
Vic Kids Eat Well
Vic Kids Eat is the flagship initiative of the Victorian Government's Healthy kids, healthy futures action plan to support children and young people to be healthy, active and well.
Vic Kids Eat Well aligns to key food and drink supply policies and guidelines (Canteens, Healthy Eating and Other Food Services policy, Healthy Choices guidelines, Food and drink guidelines for OSHC). It does not target individual choices or eating behaviours, instead it focuses on canteens, kiosks and other food services to create environments that offer children and families delicious and healthy food and drink options.
Health promoters in Community Health are offered training, online resources, and networks connecting them with other professionals to share experiences. Health promoters can to be a part of Vic Kids Eat Well.
Vic Kids Eat Well helps settings make steps towards meeting their relevant healthy food and drink supply policies and/or working through the Achievement Program’s Healthy Eating and Oral Health benchmarks.
Achievement Program
The Achievement takes a whole of organisation approach (including staff, students, families and the wider community) and provides guidance and support for education settings to become healthier places for their community. The program is a free initiative, funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by Cancer Council Victoria. It identifies evidence-based actions to create healthier places, provides links to best-practice resources and case studies, and provides Victorian Government recognition once applicable standards have been met.
Evidence-based actions
Evidence-based actions that early childhood services or schools can take to increase healthy and sustainable eating include:
Support the early childhood food service or school canteen to comply with Victorian government healthy food and drink supply policies and guidelines
Early childhood and school food services can have a significant impact on the foods and drinks that students are exposed to and consume. The food and drinks provided and promoted to young children whilst at child care (particularly long day care) can make a significant contribution to their daily nutritional intake.
Similarly, when consumed daily, the food in school canteens can comprise a third of a student's total daily intake and have a significant influence on their health and nutrition. High sugar content soft drinks and confectionary should not be supplied through school canteens and other school food services due to their high sugar content.
Supporting early childhood food services and school canteens to comply with Victorian Government food and drink supply policies and guidelines helps support lifelong healthy eating habits.
- Canteens, Healthy Eating and Other Food Services , Department of Education
- Victorian Government Menu planning guidelines for early childhood
- Victorian Government Food and drink guidelines for outside school hours
- Supporting the supply of healthy foods and drinks , Healthy Eating Advisory Service
- - Menu Product Recipe Assessment, Healthy Eating Advisory Service
- Food and non-food for schools, Healthy Eating Advisory Service
Integrate formal and informal learning opportunities to encourage healthy eating within the day
Promote healthy eating by ensuring the curriculum guides students to develop healthy eating and food literacy skills. Formal learning opportunities can be complemented through staff role modelling healthy eating and ensuring discretionary food or drinks are not used for classroom rewards.
- Eat for , Australian Guide to Healthy Eating, Australian Government
- Promoting healthy for early childhood services
- Promoting healthy and healthy eating curriculum ideas for
- Kids Building Future , VicHealth
- Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden
Enable environments in schools and early learning facilities that promote healthy eating and oral health
Plan for buildings, facilities and practices to support healthy eating, as well as breastfeeding for staff and visitors. For example, 'design out' the deep fryer; provide families with information about how to create healthy lunches and snacks (including minimising packaging and waste); and ensure celebrations and events promote healthy foods and drinks and limit discretionary options.
- Breastfeeding Friendly , Australian Breastfeeding Association
- Healthy lunchboxes - pick 'n' , Healthy Eating Advisory Service
- Food and non-food for schools, Healthy Eating Advisory Service
Embedding oral health promotion in early childhood services and schools also links with healthy eating.
- Smiles , Dental Health Services Victoria
- Smile Squad, Department of Health, Dental Health Services Victoria
- Oral health planning, Department of Health, Dental Health Services Victoria
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Evidence-based actions that a local government can take to encourage healthy and sustainable food, and become a healthier place include:
Lead by example, by supplying and promoting healthier food and drink options for staff and visitors
Local government is a significant employer and an important interface to the local community. Local governments also host numerous public events and community meetings. To drive effective and sustained change towards healthier eating, many councils have embedded Healthy Choices food and drink policy guidelines within contracts for event catering for staff and visitors. For implementation support, visit the Healthy Eating Advisory .
Local councils are also encouraged to consider and adopt Healthy and more sustainable food and drink procurement practices that not only support and promote healthy eating, but also benefit the environment and the wider Victorian community. Developed by the Department of Health, organisations can access a Healthy and more sustainable food procurement policy template, and a Guide to healthy and more sustainable food procurement.
To make it simpler to find healthier and more sustainable catering, and identify those caterers who offer social benefits to the community. See the Healthy Eating Advisory Catering for Good Directory.
By acting on healthy food and drink provision, local councils can progress to meet the healthy eating benchmark of the Healthy Workplaces Achievement .
Embed healthy food and drink supply and promotion guidelines within local government facilities, clubs, services and community events
Many children and adults in Victoria are living in communities saturated with the supply and promotion of unhealthy food and drinks. Councils manage a range of community facilities (particularly for sport and recreation) and host large scale community events and festivals.
Many Victorian councils have led the way by embedding the Healthy Choices food and drink policy guidelines into council managed sport, recreation and swimming facilities, as well as service provider contracts and leasing agreements with sporting clubs. By using the Healthy Choices guidelines, and to plan and assess menus, products and recipes, facility managers can ensure that food and drinks available to staff, players and spectators are healthy, and complement positive messages about the importance of physical activity for good health.
The Healthy Eating Advisory provides specialist support for organisations that are putting Healthy Choices into practice and can connect local government with lead adopters and case studies that demonstrate the business case for change.
- Western Leisure Services transforms food retail for health - without impacting café , Healthy Eating Advisory Service
- A business case for healthy food and drink policies in retail , VicHealth
Implement initiatives and approaches to support healthier lifestyles and habits across the lifespan, particularly in children's early years
The first 2000 days (the period from conception to age five) are critical for establishing healthy behaviours that maximise lifelong health. Local councils provide universal maternal and child health, and child care services, which can provide evidence-based information and programs to support maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, introduction to solids, oral health and childhood nutrition. Enhanced support and planning to engage with vulnerable groups at this critical life stage is beneficial, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and those with lower socioeconomic status.
- INFANT , Deakin University
Create supportive neighbourhoods to increase access to healthy and affordable food (including for vulnerable groups)
Local councils are uniquely positioned to support local food system change through increasing access to healthy, sustainable and affordable food for all community groups including vulnerable populations at risk of food insecurity. This can take the form of local planning and council policies, healthy procurement practices, fresh food recovery and emergency food relief, local food production, community gardens, healthy retail in public settings, as well as measures to minimise food waste and packaging. Working with cross sector partners is essential in this process. Actions to increase access to tap water (preferably fluoridated where available) should also be considered.
VicHealth health promotion modules for local government provide practical guidance, how-to-guides for taking action and links to additional resources, templates, and case studies on the following topic areas:
Other useful resources for councils include:
- Provision of drinking water fountains in public ,VicHealth
- Healthy Active by , Heart Foundation
- Rethink Sugary
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Health services are key players in the Victorian prevention system. The healthcare system encompasses many skilled professionals who are uniquely positioned to create healthier food and drink environments at their service, which in turn support Victorians to access healthier food and drink options.
Evidence-based actions that a health service can take to encourage healthy and sustainable food, and become a healthier place include:
Lead by example, by supplying and promoting healthier food and drink options for staff and visitors
As public facilities with a high profile in the community, health services play an essential leadership role in supporting the health and wellbeing of their staff and visitors by providing access to healthier food and drink options. A key action to achieve this is implementing the Victorian Government Healthy choices: policy directive for Victorian public health services across retail outlets, vending and catering.
This includes using to plan and assess menus, products and recipes to meet the policy directive. Embedding this policy into health and wellbeing policies as well as relevant food supply contracts will ensure effective and sustained change. The Healthy Eating Advisory , a free service funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by the National Nutrition , is available to support services with implementing the policy directive.Health services are also encouraged to consider the benefits of implementing a comprehensive approach to employee health and wellbeing by participating in the Healthy Workplaces Achievement .
Implement evidence-informed healthy lifestyle pathways, programs and services tailored to children, families and at-risk groups
Health and community services have the means to implement healthy eating programs, as well as embed healthy food provision guidelines to support clients, staff and visitors. This includes implementing policies to promote and support breastfeeding and providing healthy eating, oral health and breastfeeding promotion and advice in universal child and family health services. Lifestyle modification programs and resources to assist the general public as well as those at higher risk of developing chronic diseases are available and can be promoted.
- , helping parents access evidence-based advice on healthy eating and active play for their baby.
- Life! for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke
- HEALing Matters for residential workers and carers supporting young people in out-of-home care.
- Better Health Channel - healthy , Department of Health
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Workplaces offer unique opportunities to promote health and wellbeing and create healthy working environments for their staff. Creating a workplace where healthier food and drink options are available to staff not only supports better physical health and mental health and wellbeing; it also helps to improve the overall culture of the organisation.
Evidence-based actions that a workplace can take to encourage healthy and sustainable food, and become a healthier place include:
Lead by example, by supplying and promoting healthier food and drink options for staff and visitors
Many workers consume at least half their daily meals and snacks during work hours. There are many opportunities to influence food choices at work through onsite retail outlets and vending machines, and shifting the way food and drinks are ordered for staff meetings, functions and events. An easy way for workplaces to find healthier and more sustainable catering, and identify those caterers who offer social benefits to the community is through: the Healthy Eating Advisory Catering for Good Directory.
Workplaces can also receive guidance through the Department of Health’s:
- Healthy and more sustainable food procurement policy template and guide; and
- Healthy Choices: healthy eating policy and catering guide for workplaces.
The Healthy Eating Advisory Service, a free service funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by the National Nutrition , is available to inspire, motivate and support workplaces to transition their food and drink environments to healthier offerings. In addition to online training, website resources and organisation change support, it also provides menu, recipe, product and vending assessments and swaps via its online assessment tool, .
The Healthy Workplaces provides guidance and support for workplaces to become healthier places for their employees. Funded by the Victorian Government and delivered by Cancer Council Victoria, it is a voluntary, free initiative that identifies evidence-based actions to create a healthy workplace. It links members to best-practice resources and examples against five health areas, one of which is healthy eating. Local experts can help workplaces along their journey; and once the standards are met, workplaces receive Victorian Government recognition.
Encourage healthy eating among staff and visitors
Workplaces are also great settings for providing programs and resources to support healthy eating amongst staff and visitors. This will complement any changes made to the foods and drinks provided in the workplace. Workplaces can also consider supporting breastfeeding in the workplace by implementing a Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Policy.
- Life! - for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke.
- Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace , Australian Breastfeeding Association
Reviewed 24 September 2024