Guide to apps promoting healthy living

Guide to apps promoting healthy living

Apps Health Promotion Wellbeing

VicHealth reviewed over 200 health and wellbeing apps available on Apple® and Android™ devices between May and August 2015. The selected apps were reviewed to see if they were likely to help users change their behaviour and achieve a healthier lifestyle. Each app has been given a star rating and VicHealth aims to update those ratings annually.  You can see all the reviews along with tips for choosing apps on their Healthy Living Apps website. 

Nutrition advice from bariatric surgeon

Nutrition advice from bariatric surgeon

Diet Nutrition Obesity Wellbeing

Dr Garth Davis is a Fellow of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and manages a weight management clinic in Houston, Texas. Our Misplaced Obsession With Protein & High Fat, Low Carb Diets* is a podcast where he discusses his own improved health and weight since adopting a plant-based diet, and presents evidence to support plant-based diets as being the most healthy way to improve longevity and wellbeing.  Davis delivers his message clearly and with conviction.

*Please note, this podcast may not work on every browser. Try an alternative if you have problems.  

Supporting Healthy Communities Through Sports and Recreation Programs

Supporting Healthy Communities Through Sports and Recreation Programs

Health Promotion Indigenous health Sport Wellbeing

Healthy communities are communities in which people have the physical and mental health and wellbeing needed to conduct their daily lives. The purpose of this paper, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on 13 December 2013, is to review the available evidence of a range of sports and recreation programs in relation to their effects on supporting and building healthy communities. 

There is some evidence in the form of critical descriptions of programs and systematic reviews on the benefits to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities from participation in sport and recreational programs. These include some improvements in school retention, attitudes towards learning, social and cognitive skills, physical and mental health and wellbeing; increased social inclusion and cohesion; increased validation of and connection to culture; and some evidence of crime reduction.

A Listing and Content of Population Surveys to Measure Aspects of Wellbeing: Australian and International

A Listing and Content of Population Surveys to Measure Aspects of Wellbeing: Australian and International

Quality of Life Wellbeing

 This report, published in December 2012, is produced under the auspices of the Australian National Development Index (ANDI) project at the Australian Centre on Quality of Life (ACQOL). The reason for generating this list is to document some of the most easily accessible population surveys concerning the measurement of wellbeing. This information may assist the preliminary qualitative phase of the ANDI project. The contents of these surveys may also be useful in the identification of ‘wellbeing domains’ for the quantitative phase of measurement. (APO 22/8/13)

Australia's Welfare 2013 - AIHW

Australia's Welfare 2013 - AIHW

Population Statistics Wellbeing

Australia's Welfare 2013 is the 11th biennial welfare report from the AIHW.  The report provides an overview of the wellbeing of Australians in terms of healthy living, autonomy and participation and social cohesion.  It includes information on:

• population factors underpinning the demand for welfare services
• particular needs and assistance provided to key groups
• resourcing of welfare services in Australia

The data from the report includes the fact that people outside major cities experience several areas of disadvantage in higher death and disability rates and lower education. Australians overall are better educated than ten years ago, adoptions are at their lowest ever level, more children are abused and neglected and house prices are comparatively much higher than in 2002.

A useful companion publication, Australia's welfare 2013 - in brief is also freely available for download.  

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children: Annual Statistical Report 2012

The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children: Annual Statistical Report 2012

Child development Children Statistics Wellbeing

This report, Growing up in Australia: the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), aims to provide the evidence base for future research and policy development to support family functioning and children's health and wellbeing. LSAC was initiated and is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, and is conducted in partnership with the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). A consortium of leading researchers and experts from universities and research agencies provide advice to the study.
This is the third volume in the LSAC Annual Statistical Report series, which for the first time incorporates data from the fourth wave of the study. The purpose of these reports is to provide an overview of the data from the study and to address policy-relevant questions about aspects of Australian children’s lives and development. The reports make use of the longitudinal nature of LSAC data to describe continuities and change as children develop, as well as the dynamics of change in their families, neighbourhoods and communities. (APO 19 June 2013)