Health Coalition Aotearoa

Ake Ake Ake! Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is an annual celebration for all New Zealanders to show their support for the Māori language, an official language of this country. “Learning and speaking te reo Maori has profound personal and societal benefits – and contributes to the health and well-being of all. Ko te reo te mauri o te mana Māori," says Health Coalition Aotearoa Board member Grant Berghan.

TE WIKI O TE REO MĀORI ❤️ This week is the 52nd anniversary of the presentation of Te Petihana Reo Māori | The Māori Language Petition to Parliament! The petition was signed by more than 30,000 people and was presented on 14 September 1972 by a group of te reo Māori champions. They called for the active support and teaching of te reo Māori in all schools in Aotearoa, as a gift to “promote a more meaningful concept of integration." In honour of Te Petihana Reo Māori, the 14 September was known as Māori Language Day until 1975, when it became Te Wiki o te Reo Māori | Māori Language Week. Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori is still celebrated every year in September to honour Te Petihana Reo Māori and the advocates whose aim was to ensure te reo would be passed on to future generations.

👉 LISTEN to HCA Co-Chair Boyd Swinburn speak on Checkpoint with Lisa Owen about the government being told free lunches for schools programme would have a "profound impact on wellbeing" before it decided to cut the scheme's funding earlier this year. 

"It’s a much-needed intervention. New Zealand data shows that children who frequently go without food are, when it comes to school results, four years behind their well-fed peers." Thanks Max Rashbrooke for this excellent piece in The Spinoff about Healthy School Lunches, Ka Ora Ka Ako.

Health Coalition Aotearoa congratulates our co-chair, Professor Lisa Te Morenga (Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei, Te Uri o Hau, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa), on her inaugural Professorial lecture at Massey University titled Food Rites and Food Rights. Professor Te Morenga’s research spans the field of nutrition, investigating the effects of nutrients, foods and diets on health outcomes through systematic evidence reviews. More recently she has been using participatory co-design approaches to work with communities and whānau to develop effective interventions for improving health and wellbeing that match their needs and aspirations. She is a current Rutherford Discovery Fellow and was awarded the Hamilton Award for Early Career Research Excellence by the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2019 for her work on dietary sugars. This and her subsequent research on dietary fats and carbohydrates have contributed to the latest World Health Organization nutrition guidelines. As co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, Professor Te Morenga advocates for evidence-informed, Te Tiriti-led policy to reduce the promotion and consumption of unhealthy food and other harmful products. We are extremely fortunate to have someone of her calibre helping to lead the kaupapa of Health Coalition Aotearoa.

Today is FASD Awareness Day. Around the world, individuals and organisations are coming together to raise awareness about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and to celebrate the unique strengths and differences of those affected by it. This year, the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Care Action Network (FASD-CAN) is focusing on the theme of hope — a reminder of the potential and resilience within the FASD community. Join the conversation and learn more by tuning into their panel discussion happening right now: https://lnkd.in/gMkrRZRh

Health, not profit, should drive our food system. 🛒🍎 Supermarket margins have surged, profits remain high, and the grocery sector's dominance by Foodstuffs North Island Limited, Foodstuffs South Island, and Woolworths Supermarkets continues, according to the first annual report from Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden. This dominance leads to higher prices, exacerbating food insecurity and limiting access to healthy foods. The result? A direct impact on the nation's health, pushing more people into an already overwhelmed health system. With 1 in 5 New Zealand children living in food-insecure households, recent research by Dr Joanna Strom shows that families on low incomes often struggle to provide healthy meals for their children. That's why HCA supports the Commission’s plans to step up regulation and enforcement in the grocery sector. Kiwis deserve better access to healthy food, and it's time for supermarkets to play their part in improving the system for everyone. #HealthOverProfit #FoodSecurity #PublicHealth #GrocerySector #HealthyEating #NZHealth #RegulationReform #KiwisDeserveBetter

🌱 Join us at the Health Coalition Aotearoa Forum on September 24th in Wellington. 🌱 We’re excited to welcome Kevin Hague, Chair of the Public Health Advisory Committee, who will be speaking on a critical issue: our food system and its impact on health. As Kevin points out, “Our food system is predominantly tilted towards pursuing economic goals and prioritises food as a commodity product with the consequence that it is failing to meet not only our current needs, but also our aspirations for future generations and for the ability of the natural world to sustain us.” This is a conversation that touches on the health of our people and the planet. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to engage with experts, network with peers, and contribute to the future of public health in Aotearoa. Register now: https://lnkd.in/g6p6dMuN #PublicHealth #FoodSystems #HealthCoalitionAotearoa #WellingtonEvent #FutureOfHealth

The drug which causes the most widespread harm in New Zealand is alcohol, according to research by the University of Otago (Christchurch), published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Kiwi researchers found that, when separately considering harm to those who use it and harm to others, alcohol was the most harmful drug for the total population. Alcohol’s position at the top of the ranked had it ahead of methamphetamine, synthetic cannabinoids and tobacco. You can read more about the 2023 study here: https://lnkd.in/grSeiXEq More recently more than 29,000 alcohol-related hospitalisations were equivalent to half the Wellington region’s hospital capacity. That figure comes from a 2024 report commissioned by Health New Zealand and done by the University of Otago. The impact of alcohol consumption on public health is profound. Our Health Coalition Aotearoa Forum on September 24 in Wellington will feature discussions on policy measures and prevention strategies to address alcohol harm. Register here: https://lnkd.in/g6p6dMuN #AlcoholHarm #HealthPolicy

There has been a big response from businesses to provide $3 lunches for 91,000 of high school and intermediate students in our most deprived areas as the Registration of Interest closed on Monday August 26. The Ministry of Education received 122 registrations of interest, with 47 of those from meal providers. They will have to provide the meals for $3 per student, including all ingredients, delivery, production costs including labour, and waste/surplus management. It is still unclear if they will need to meet the current nutritional guidelines as the Ministry is still "considering" this. It is also unclear what role the Ministerial Expert Advisory Group will have in determining this, or indeed, what advice they have provided to the Minister or Ministry. HCA spokesperson, Kelly Garton, PhD, told BusinessDesk it was absolutely critical the lunches were highly nutritious and the procurement documents did not give any confidence that this was a bottom line for providers or the Ministry. In the assessment of the applications nutrition would get just 15 per cent in the overall score. "Worryingly, the Ministry also appears to have changed their language on nutrition, from ‘standards’ to ‘guidance,’ which gives providers more of an option to cut corners." Thanks to Cécile Meier for her coverage of this important issue! https://lnkd.in/gzEQMbuP