Healthy Loddon Campaspe

In 2016, the community told the Loddon Campaspe Regional Partnership that it was concerned about health statistics and outcomes in the region. They also believed that health is everyone’s business, not just health services and professionals.

To address these concerns, a series of design workshops were undertaken involving over 100 stakeholders from local government, health services, primary care partnerships, universities and state government departments to develop the Healthy Heart of Victoria implementation framework. 

 Subsequently, in 2018 the initiative was funded by the Victorian State Government.

Active Living Census

In 2019, all households in the Loddon Campaspe region were invited to take part in the Active Living Census (ALC) in May-June 2019 either via hard copy survey or online. Almost 25,000 responses were received, including 11.5% of the Loddon Shire population.

The findings provide reliable evidence at a local level, and allow us to compare the data between the Shire’s different townships, as well as age and gender groups. The survey has also shown us what will help our residents meet guidelines for healthy eating and exercise, and support our efforts to reduce obesity, chronic disease and high-risk health behaviours.

The main findings in Loddon Shire:

• Walking is the most popular type of physical activity, followed by swimming, active play, tennis and bushwalking.
•  On average, people have to travel 21 km to participate in their physical activity.
• 3 out of 4 adults are overweight or obese.
• 56% of females and 53% of males want to exercise more.
• 1 out of 9 households do not have enough to eat – they are ‘food insecure’. In some areas, this increases to 1 in 6 households.
• Only 1 out of 7 adults eat enough vegetables daily.

Find the Active Living Census reports HERE

Activation

Activation projects focus on creating healthy spaces, places and practices that support an increase in physical activity and healthy eating, particularly among target populations.

Activation projects are designed based on community-level data and local stakeholder and community engagement. Activation projects delivered in Loddon Shire include: -

• Walk This Way project in Inglewood and Pyramid Hill.
• Community Gardens in Boort and Inglewood.
• Cooking Healthy Meals at Boort Resource and Information Centre and Inglewood Community Neighbourhood House.
• StoryWalk in Wedderburn.
• Healthy Sports Clubs project with several Loddon Shire sporting clubs 
• Adventure Bingo - encourages residents to get involved by walking one of six trails across the Loddon Campaspe region. Through the initiative, participants spot points of interest listed on a grid during their walk and once they’ve spotted three items in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal line, they’ve got Bingo! There are Adventure Bingo trails in Boort, Bridgewater and Wedderburn. Click HERE to get involved.

• Outdoor fitness equipment – HLC and Loddon Shire have installed outdoor fitness equipment along the Nardoo Trail in Wedderburn (view map here Nardoo-Trail-map.jpg(JPG, 16MB) ), Nolens Park in Boort, Kelly Park in Pyramid Hill and at Inglewood Recreation Reserve. The equipment is freely accessible to all community members and designed for people of all ages and abilities. Everyone is welcome! 

HLC has also created beginner, intermediate and advanced fitness programs for the outdoor fitness equipment, to support the community to be active, no matter what their fitness level is. Please take note of the health advice on each program:

Wedderburn fitness programs

Boort, Inglewood and Pyramid Hill fitness programs

Exercise videos – click HERE for video tips on how to use the equipment, and some specific tips on using the cycle seats and step up platform at pod 3 in Wedderburn.