Everything you need to know about Vic Kids Eat Well

Vic Kids Eat Well is helping schools, outside school hours care, community organisations and sports clubs boost healthy and delicious food and drink options so kids can thrive.

Here’s everything you need to know about this exciting new program.

 

 

What is Vic Kids Eat Well?

Vic Kids Eat Well is a Victoria-wide movement giving kids a healthy start.

The initiative supports organisations to take simple steps, including ditching sugary drinks, boosting healthy food options in canteens and encouraging healthy fundraising. 

Vic Kids Eat Well is supported by the Victorian Government and delivered by Cancer Council Victoria’s Achievement Program, in partnership with Nutrition Australia’s Healthy Eating Advisory Service. 

Why was Vic Kids Eat Well created?

Vic Kids Eat Well is about giving all Victorian kids the positive start they deserve so they can grow up to be happy and healthy.

The program helps organisations understand how they can lead healthy swaps to the food and drink they offer to the kids in their care. Changes might be made in the canteen, to the outsourced lunch service menu or to the items in the vending machine.

It is estimated that 41 per cent of children’s diets come from highly processed food. Adding to this, over 77 per cent of secondary schools in Australia still sell sugary drinks. (Haynes, A et al, [2020] Secondary school canteens in Australia: analysis of canteen menus from a repeated cross-sectional national survey , Public Health Nutrition)

What are the four healthy food and drink action areas?

Vic Kids Eat Well is made up of four key action areas, which prioritise improving the healthy food and drink environments where kids learn and play:

  • Refresh the fridge – give sugary drinks the boot and let water take the spotlight
  • Switch up the snacks – ditch the sweets and offer delicious healthy snacks that give kids the fuel they need
  • Change up the menu – give fruit and veggies a chance to shine
  • Put the ‘fun’ into fundraising and marketing - add health appeal to meal deals and fundraising activities like walkathons and readathons

How does Vic Kids Eat Well work?

  1. Join the movement and get dedicated and expert help

    When your organisation joins Vic Kids Eat Well you will be connected to a dedicated health promotion professional who will support your organisation’s changes every step of the way. To receive support in your own language, we have translation services available. To find out more about this service click here. 

  2. Take action

    Vic Kids Eat Well meets you where you are. You will work through the four healthy food and drink action areas with the support of your health promotion professional.

    You can go big, with a ‘big bite’, or start small, with a ‘small bite’. The more ‘bites’ completed, the greater the impact!

    To get an idea of the changes involved in taking action, have a look at our resources. Your dedicated health promoter will guide you through each step, at your own pace.

  3. Receive rewards and celebrate progress 

    Vic Kids Eat Well is all about celebrating the milestones along the way. Upon joining, organisations will receive a promotional pack to show you’re part of the Vic Kids Eat Well movement. 

    Organisations can also receive rewards for completing actions, with successes promoted to inspire your community and to recognise wins.

  4. Keep the momentum going

    Once you’ve worked through all the Vic Kids Eat Well ‘bites’ – why stop there?

    Organisations can continue their healthy eating journey through the relevant policies and guidelines and receive further Victorian Government recognition through Cancer Council Victoria’s Achievement Program. Your health promoter will show you how.

 

Why should you join?

Still unsure whether Vic Kids Eat Well is something you’d like to get involved with? Check out this blog post which breaks down the five reasons your organisation should join!


DATA: Department of Health and Human Services, [2016] Victoria’s Health; the Chief Health Officer’s report 2014, State Government of Victoria