BCHS-Health-Promotion-Strategic-Plan-2025-2029 - Flipbook - Page 6
Increase Healthy Eating
Evidence and rationale
Dietary behaviours play a large role in risk factors for chronic health conditions, mental health
and overall wellbeing. Specific types of food such as those high saturated fats, sugar and refined
grains and oils have links to increased risk for chronic disease (Springmann., Mozaffarian,
Rosenzweig & Micha, 2021).
The link between the food we eat, our oral health and overall wellbeing are pivotal in health
outcomes and can lead to a cycle of negative interrelated health conditions. It is recognised that
animal-based foods have greater environmental impacts than plant-based foods, such as
greenhouse gas emissions, water footprint and resource requirements (Global Nutrition Report,
2021). However, there are many factors that affect an individual’s eating habits, including
physical, economic, cultural and social factors. This can include growing barriers such as food
insecurity which can also negatively impact physical, mental, and social health of adults and
children (AIFS, 2020).
Food insecurity has been rising alongside rising living costs. In the Greater Bendigo region, 1 in 10
households are food insecure, with the most recent food insecurity rate in CoGB at 9.6% of the
population (CoGB, 2019). Within the CoGB, 10.6% of people ran out of money to buy food in the
last 12 months (DHSV, 2024) and 30.6% of adults were worried about running out of money to buy
food (VAHI, 2023).
Within the CoGB, only 21.8% of male and 23.8% of female children met vegetable intake
guidelines, declining moving into adolescence, further into adulthod,. (VAHI, 2023). Additionally,
31.9% of children aged 3-5 and 41.5% of children aged 6 experienced at least one decayed,
missing or filled primary or permanent teeth (DHSV, 2024).
