Nutrition and Physical Activity

This section of the website contains information on nutrition and healthy eating, physical activity and promoting healthy weight.

Early Childhood Nutrition
The early years are a critical period for establishing healthy eating and physical activity behaviours in children. Nutritious food and regular physical activity supports the normal growth and development of children and reduces the risk of developing chronic lifestyle diseases including obesity.

Nutrition and Healthy Eating
The Healthy Living Branch is responsible for developing and evaluating national policy, resources and initiatives in the areas of nutrition and healthy eating, health promoting physical activity and promoting healthy weight.

Physical Activity
The National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians outline the minimum levels of physical activity required to gain a health benefit and ways to incorporate incidental physical activity into everyday life.

Promoting Healthy Weight
Promoting healthy weight focuses on the prevention and management of overweight and obesity. In Australia, the 1995 National Nutrition Survey showed that some 56% of the adult population (18 years and over) were overweight, with 19% of these classified as obese.