AFL Cape York Lifestyle Programs

AFL Cape York is proud to acknowledge the support of our sponsors and supporters.

Healthy Lifestyle & Smart Choices Program

Lifestyle ProgramsWhile the health of Australians is relatively good, Indigenous people continue to experience higher rates of ill-health and disease than any other section of the Australian population. The life expectancy of Indigenous Australians in 2002 was approximately 20 years less that that of non-Indigenous Australians (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002).

In August 2004, Queensland Health released Health Determinants Queensland (Queensland Health, 2004a) which attempts to quantify the differences in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Queenslanders (section 5: Indigenous People). This document states that relative to the non-Indigenous population of Queensland, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing in rural and remote Australia have higher death and hospitalization rates due to all causes (Queensland Health, 2004a).

AFL Cape York is using the Kickstart program as a vehicle to address health and educational issues. By participating in the Kickstart program children are actively engaging in physical activity and learning the importance of having a healthy body to be able to participate in sporting activities and a healthy mind in relation to decision making. AFL staff is constantly presenting health/dietary information to its participants with the hope that in time they will make smarter choices in relation to what they eat or drink based on the choices they have.

AFL Cape York has a strong belief in the importance of education. AFL Cape York game development staff work closely with schools and coordinators in identifying which students are attending regularly and those who are not showing the required commitment. We are also extremely conscious of the amount of time children are away from school participating in the Kickstart program. Again staff work closely with the schools when outlaying our yearly calendar of events.

Health Management

The following information has been provided by the Sports Dietitians – Tara Diversi and Eli Newman at Health Management Dietetics. The information is current at the date of publication and is to be used as a guide and not personal advice. If you need personal advice to improve your health or sporting performance, the team at Health Management Dietetics can help you with this. See their website, www.healthmanagement.com.au for more information or to sign up for their free monthly nutrition newsletter.