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Increasing physical activity levels will help prevent and manage a wide variety of conditions and diseases including cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It is also very effective at promoting mental wellbeing and lowers your stress levels, as physical activity releases endorphins into your body which makes you feel better. Adults should be aiming for at least 30 minutes a day, or 60 minutes a day for children between 5 and 18 years. Many employers recognises the benefits of promoting physical activity to their workforce, such as reduced sickness absence, increased loyalty and better staff retention.
Community and Public Health is committed to promoting physical activity as an integral part of a healthy lifestyle through assisting workplaces to implement physical activity programmes, and advocates for the provision and promotion of appropriate physical activity and recreation opportunities and active environments in Canterbury, to enable people to be more active, more often.
Community and Public Health also encourage and support CDHB staff to take part in various events within Canterbury like the City 2 Surf, and Sea 2 Sea Challenge and some staff are also involved in CoachCorp. We are also an active member of both Push Play with Active Christchurch and the Active Canterbury steering group.
The Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) project was established in November 2004, and in collaboration with Health and Safety and Healthy Eating Healthy Action (HEHA) with the objectives to:
- Increase CDHB staffs awareness about healthy eating and active living
- Develop and maintain initiatives for staff that support healthy eating and active living
- Develop environments, polices and practices that support healthy eating and active living for staff
Active Canterbury Network (previously known as Push Play with Active Christchurch) was established in 1999. Its current role is to support physical activity providers throughout Canterbury by:
- Providing quarterly newsletters to raise the awareness of existing and future training, funding and networking opportunities to support and enhance their current mahi.
- Identifying gaps in what is needed but not currently provided for physical activity providers.
- Linking with current training providers with possibilities to provide the above.
Active Canterbury Network representatives belong to key organisations with a high stake in Canterbury’s population increasing its physical activity and enjoying the fantastic benefits it brings. Members include the Heart Foundation, Community and Public Health (on behalf of the Canterbury District Health Board), He Oranga Pounamu, Pegasus Health, Sport Canterbury, YMCA Christchurch and Christchurch City Council.
Active Canterbury supports physical activity providers and health professionals (including GPs and practice nurses) by giving them the tools and information they need to help their clients and patients get more active, more often. An exciting feature is the Easy Promotion Tool which enables providers to create professional-looking fliers, posters and certificates with ease.
Active Canterbury enables you to search by activity and location to find a group, club or class that suits you or find information about parks, tracks and facilities you can visit. Whether it is alone or with friends or family, you're bound to find something that suits. This information can be accessed by phoning 0800 ACTIVE or the Active Canterbury website.
Documents
 SPARC Facts 1997-2001: Results from New Zealand Sport and Physical Activity Surveys
Active Movement: An Introduction (for Under 5s)
Downloads - hard copies available from the Community Health Information Centre
Be Active Every Day
Pregnancy and Activity
Medical Conditions and Physical Activity
Links
Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC)
Active Canterbury
Sport Canterbury
Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL)
Active Smart (ACC)
Christchurch City Council
Physical Activity (Ministry of Health)
Heart Foundation of New Zealand
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