Active Voice with Belinda Muller Sport BOP GRx Advisor

In the last 12 months, more than 3000 Bay of Plenty people have linked to Sport Bay of Plenty's healthy lifestyle programme: Green Prescription.

Green Prescription is a six-month starter programme designed to support inactive people to develop a healthy lifestyle through increasing their physical activity and improving their nutritional choices.

On receiving a referral from a GP practice, Sport BOP invite the person referred to meet with a Green Prescription advisor. At this meeting, the participant – with the help of the Green Prescription advisor – set goals on what they would like to achieve by being part of the programme.

Some of the goals can be as simple as ‘observing the local aqua class' or can be as big as ‘I want to be around for my mokopuna'. As with the goals, the successes can be as diverse as the individuals who take part in the Green Prescription programme.

Here is an example of a Tauranga-based woman who recently took part in the programme.

Prior to having her family, Maggie lived a very healthy lifestyle. She was active and ate three healthy meals per day. Once her children began to arrive, Maggie's focus shifted to her children. She became heavily involved in their sports and other activities, and as Maggie's life became busier, her healthy lifestyle was forgotten. 

She stopped exercising and no longer ate regular healthy meals. Maggie regularly skipped breakfast and lunch and ate one large meal at night with sugary snacks throughout the day. She gained 80kg over a period of 15 years.

Maggie became embarrassed by how she looked and became quite reclusive, but in 2012 Maggie decided it was time to make a change and joined the Green Prescription programme. At that time she weighed 146.7kg. 

Initially Maggie struggled with the lifestyle changes and was discharged from the programme after six months, but Maggie re-joined the programme in 2015 and totally committed herself to the programme.

She set goals with her Green Prescription advisor around nutritional changes and increasing her physical activity by signing up to a local gym, leading to her taking part in bootcamps which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Her advisor is delighted to report Maggie has returned to eating three healthy meals per day and found ways to work exercise into her daily routine. Since 2015 Maggie has lost a total of 50kg and her goal is to lose another 30kg during the next two years.

To find out more about the Green Prescription programme, talk to your GP or practice nurse, or give us a call at Sport BOP.