Uncle Jimmy's Thumbs Up!
Uncle Jimmy Thumbs Up to Healthy Tucker, promotes an awareness of healthier food options in Indigenous communities.
The Program specifically focuses on Indigenous Australians, particularly children, to improve health through an increased awareness of healthy food choices.
However, as a secondary outcome, this Program will promote wider community awareness about the health of Indigenous Australians. Children and young people have been chosen as the primary target group so as to foster the development of healthy eating behaviours at an early age which will improve health, educational outcomes and prevent development of chronic health conditions such as diabetes later in life.
The Jimmy Little Thumbs Up! Healthy Food Program’s objectives will be implemented through four strategies:
- Awareness: Raise awareness amongst parents, children and young people of the importance of healthy foods and eating.
- Education: Promote the education of healthy eating choices within schools.
- Behaviour: Change the food purchasing and eating habits of parents, children and young people.
- Partnerships: Strengthen and sustain the program message through alliances with other stakeholders and use of local resources.
The overarching objectives of the Jimmy Little Thumbs Up! Healthy Food Program are to:
- Contribute to improved health and wellbeing for Indigenous children through greater awareness of the importance of nutritious foods; and
- Contribute to a decline in the incidence of diabetes and a significant lessening of renal disease among Aboriginal people.
The pilot for this project was undertaken with support from the Fred Hollows Foundation. Medicines Australia is contributing $720,000.
Page updated: February 2011