Water in Sport

Project Details

Project timelines

2018 - 2020

Complete

Research domain

Deakin Centre for Global Preventive Health and Nutrition

A VicHealth-led collaboration to make water the drink of choice in Victorian local government sport and recreation facilities.

Results

A total of 39 facilities made substantial changes to promote healthier drink environments:

The availability of healthy drinks increased from 43% to 63% of all drinks and sugary drinks decreased from 39% to 11%.
All participating councils began implementing policies to sustain these healthy changes, with four councils adopting healthy food retail policies by February 2020.
At seasonal pools and clubs, sales of sugary drinks dropped by 19%, resulting in an average revenue decrease of $82 per week per facility.
In facilities open year-round, sugary drink sales fell by 11% without affecting overall revenue.
Over 2,000 surveys of customers and staff were conducted before and after the initiative, revealing that over 70% believed these facilities have a responsibility to promote healthy eating.

Team members

Dr Miranda Blake
Dr Tara Boelsen-Robinson
Prof Adrian Cameron
Prof Liliana Orellana
Deakin Distinguished Prof Anna Peeters
Ms Devorah Riesenberg
Dr Helena Romaniuk

Challenge

Sport and recreation facilities play a crucial role in promoting child and community health. However, the food and drink options available in these venues, such as cafes, kiosks, and vending machines, are often unhealthy, with sugary drinks being particularly prevalent. By changing the drink options offered and marketed, there’s a significant opportunity to encourage healthier purchases and improve community wellbeing.

Solution

The VicHealth Water in Sport initiative (2018-2020) funded 8 local government areas, each employing a project officer for 2 years. These project officers facilitated the implementation of one of 2 strategies to make water the preferred drink in 54 council sport and recreation facilities. The strategies included either limiting the display of sugary drinks to less than 20% of available space or completely removing them from view. The National Nutrition Foundation’s Healthy Eating Advisory Service provided training and support to the project officers. Deakin University led the evaluation and created a step-by-step toolkit to help similar facilities make these changes

Impact

The findings from the Water in Sport project informed the development of a training package for 23 local governments in the Victorian Local Government Partnership (VLGP). This partnership has established evidence-based health promotion modules to support councils in creating healthier futures for children and young people. A core module, “Building Better Food Systems for Healthier Communities,” focuses on integrating healthy food and drink options in council-owned facilities, including sports and recreation venues. Recommendations based on learnings from the ‘Water in Sport’ project include implementing small, impactful changes, such as positioning water at eye level in fridges, and providing practical advice for developing policies to embed these changes in retail practices. The insights gained from ‘Water in Sport’ also contributed to the NHMRC-funded ‘Promoting CHANGE’ partnership project. Deakin University and 12 other organizations are collaborating on the 3-year ‘Promoting CHANGE’ capacity-building project to test and refine large-scale healthy food retail interventions in local government settings.