Looking after your heart as easy as ABC
Red was the colour of celebration at Beststart ABC New Plymouth. The early childhood education centre on Vivian St was awarded the highest standard, the Pa-Harekeke Award, in the Heart Foundation’s healthy heart programme.
‘‘It’s been a long couple of years to make sure we had all the information that they required.
‘‘And the children, their knowledge has extended immensely through what we’ve been talking to them about,’’ centre manager Haylie Bocock said.
To celebrate achieving the award the centre held a day where the children dressed in red, or as their favourite fruit or vegetable. The Heart Foundation gave the centre all they needed to grow potatoes in their garden as a gift.
‘‘I just want to thank the staff and our whanau to help us achieve it,’’ Bocock said.
Heart Foundation health promotion co-ordinator Anne Berrie said the centre had to show exemplary healthy practices to get the award.
‘‘Their menus for the children have to be consistently healthy and they have to demonstrate that the children are active on a daily basis and that their parents and whanau are engaged with what’s happening in the centre.’’
‘‘The final thing they have to do is the staff have to undergo professional development in either healthy eating or physical activity.’’
After achieving the second healthy heart level, it took two years to progress to Pa-Harekeke.
‘‘They’ve been working with me over about five years.’’
The free programme is available to early childhood services, and there are three others within Taranaki that have earned the PaHarakeke standard. ‘‘It would be awesome to have more reaching that award. We have about 30 currently working at some level of the healthy heart award.’’
‘‘For the early childhood centres, it gives them support to carry out their work and to meet their goals. They know that they’re supported all the way, that all the resources and information is available to them from the Heart Foundation.
‘‘For the children it really gives them a good start in understanding themselves and their bodies and the importance of being healthy.
‘‘They take lots of messages home to parents and whanau. They’re taking home good messages,’’ Berrie said.