Breakfast is the foundation of good nutrition. Our aim is to make breakfast the 'must have' meal of the day and increase the number of kids and whānau eating breakfast every day.
We know eating breakfast has a positive effect on academic performance, concentration, general nutrition, and weight.
Our goal - New Zealanders attain and maintain a healthy weight through improved nutrition and increased physical activity.
Eight facts about nutrition and physical activity
- Poor nutrition and insufficient physical activity contribute to overweight and obesity.
- One in three New Zealand children aged 5 to 14 years, and two in three adults are overweight or obese.
- Being overweight or obese increases an individual’s chances of developing heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoarthritis, and some cancers, contributing significantly to rising health care costs and reducing both quality of life and life expectancy.
- Approximately 11,000 deaths per year are attributable to the joint effects of nutrition-related risk factors (cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, fruit and vegetable intake).
- The direct cost of obesity to the health system is about $500 million per year.
- Around 196,000 New Zealanders had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by July 2010.
- It is estimated the health costs for type 2 diabetes will reach $1.78 billion by 2021/22.
- Nearly 10% of New Zealand adults do less than 30 minutes of exercise a week.
What does HSC do?
Breakfast is the foundation of good nutrition. We know eating breakfast has a positive effect on academic performance, concentration, general nutrition, and weight.
- Regular breakfast-eaters consume more fruit, vegetables, wholegrains and milk, and are less likely to snack on foods high in fat and sugar.
- Each school week, 18% of children aged 5 to 14 years skip breakfast on at least one day. 36,000 children never eat breakfast at home on a school day.
The key focus of our work is to promote the benefits of children consuming a healthy breakfast every day.
Our work includes:
- activities and events that promote breakfast through educational, sports and physical activity settings
- increasing parent, caregiver and whānau knowledge about the benefits of their children eating breakfast every day
- supporting the work of the nutrition and physical activity sector
- developing nationally-consistent messages that reflect the Ministry of Health’s Food and Nutrition Guidelines.
Find out more
To find out more about our work in this area check out:
Latest research
New Zealand’s society is dynamic and there are constant changes in our way of life, attitudes, social and economic conditions.
HSC does research so we can follow these changes and act on the most up-to-date information.
