Healthy weight for mob

If you are in a healthy weight range, the good news is you have a lower chance of getting cancer and you also increase your chance to live longer. This is important information for our mob. If we make deadly choices about what foods we put into our bodies and keep active now, our children and their children will also benefit because they will follow our footsteps.  

Eating healthy foods and being active

Eating healthy foods and being active reduces your chance of getting cancer. They also help reduce other health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and poor mental health.

Healthy Weight Guide

The Healthy Weight Guide offers our mob advice on how to reach and/or keep a healthy weight. It provides up-to-date information on what foods to eat and which ones to avoid, as well as what and how much exercise to do. It includes advice on setting your goals, keeping track of your progress, getting help when you need it, and getting back on track after setbacks.

BMI (Body Mass Index)

If you want to measure your BMI, then go to the Healthy Weight Guide, which also has a lot of good information on healthy weight. Your BMI should be between 18.5 and 25 for you to be a healthy weight and reduce the risk of cancer.

If you want to measure your waist size, then have a look at the steps on the Healthy Weight Guide site. Ideally, women’s waist should measure 80cm or less, and men’s should measure 94cm or less to reduce the risk of cancer.

Where to find help

Sometimes we don’t have access to healthy or fresh foods, know how to cook or prepare healthy meals and snacks or what exercise to do that works best for our body and daily routines. The good news is there are lots of places to get help to get active and healthy. A good starting point is learning about what foods to eat and how much. Here’s a link to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Guide to Healthy Eating.

Your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health service might have community activities to get involved in such as:

• healthy lifestyle programs
• cooking classes
• walking groups
• exercise programs
• sport teams
• cultural activities
• and support groups within community that help teach each other about how to have a healthy lifestyle for you and your family.

Ask your doctor, nurse and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander health worker to connect you to community activities and other help to make the changes you and your family need.

Cultural activities

Being healthy also includes things like our connection to Country and caring for it, activities with Men’s Business and Women’s Business as well as our cultural activities. Yarn with your mob about healthy foods and exercise within your cultural practices and traditions.

More information

There’s more information at Cancer Council Victoria.

And you can get online information and coaching for free if you live in NSW, Queensland or South Australia.