Healthy food and drinks are now front and centre at several City of Ballarat-owned facilities as a part of a bid to improve the health of the city's residents.
Eat Well Feel Good Ballarat - Selkirk Stadium was launched at the City's newest basketball stadium on Thursday, with the City of Ballarat signing on to join the health movement.
Eat Well Feel Good Ballarat is an initiative from Ballarat Community Health (BCH), which aims to help people purchase healthier foods through education and nutrition awareness.
This project is an expansion of Ballarat Community Health's Eat Well Feel Good IGA initiative.
The City of Ballarat has partnered with BCH to introduce a number of new healthy meals and snacks that are in line with the Healthy Choices guidelines at a number of council-owned facilities.
The project will also be run at City of Ballarat's outdoor pools.
City of Ballarat Deputy Mayor, Cr Amy Johnson said encouraging people to eat healthy food was extremely important.
"Healthy food and drinks are an essential element in of healthy development for our young people," Cr Johnson said.
"It's so important that we provide healthy food at our facilities.
"As a city the prevalence of overweight, obesity and lifestyle related illness is higher than the state average and incremental changes like this can go a long way in improving overall health.
"As a councillor I've been advocating for an overall of our cafes and canteens for a long time, with a view to providing far more healthy options. I'm very happy to see us partnering with Ballarat Community Health to deliver this program."
Students at Mt Clear Primary School also helped design new marketing characters and messages that are aimed at changing the purchasing behaviour of children and young people and their guardians.
Ballarat Community Health CEO Sean Duffy said sport and healthy eating should go hand-in-hand.
"Ballarat families spend a lot of time at sports facilities and deserve access to healthy food and drink options while they are there," he said.
"We're making changes across Ballarat, in partnership with the City of Ballarat, that will help make choosing nutritious food easier for some of the youngest members of our community and their families."
The City of Ballarat has committed to implement Healthy Choices within council-owned facilities as identified in the Municipal Health and Wellbeing plan, the Good Food for All Strategy and within the VicHealth Local Government Partnership project agreed objectives.
To learn more about Eat Well Feel Good Ballarat, visit the City of Ballarat website.
