Govt launches app to help stop parents nagging about vegetables

It seems counterintuitive, but giving your kids access to smartphones could be the answer to tackling the state’s obesity epidemic. Here’s why.

One in four Queensland kids are overweight and parents are struggling to chat to their children about the importance of being active, new state government research reveals.

With health authorities failing to make any dent in the rate of obese children across the state in more than a decade, the government has turned to smartphones to help solve the problem.

Health and Wellbeing Queensland on Thursday launches a free play-based app called Podsquad, to make learning new healthy habits fun for children and families by using games.

The app was developed by childhood health experts from Health and Wellbeing Queensland, The University of Queensland and more than 300 Queensland families.

It is the first of its kind in Australia and designed to provide learning and support through animations, music, games, quizzes, online and offline quests for both adults and children.

HWQld CEO Dr Robyn Littlewood said it was hoped the app would provide the opportunity for healthier habits to be learned using the real-life quests and a tracking tool that monitored progress across physical activity, healthy eating and sleep.

Asmaa AbdelGawad with her daughter Nadia, 10. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

“This really is a program for Queenslanders, by Queenslanders. Some of our state’s greatest minds in health and technology have informed its development, and hundreds of children, parents and carers have helped shape it into an exciting program that really meets the needs of busy families,” she said.

“We know that nearly 60 per cent of parents and carers try to set a good example for being physically active for their children, yet only about one in ten think it is easy to encourage children to be more physically active each week.”

Brisbane mother Asmaa AbdelGawad and her family became involved in helping pilot the app after she visited a dietitian to get advice on whether she was doing the right thing.

Her daughter Nadia, 10, has been using the app and Ms AbdelGawad said it has been a game changer.

“My biggest thing is that I don’t want to make my (children) feel ever that there’s something wrong with them. It’s just that we want to do the right thing and eat healthy foods just to have a strong body and good health,” she said.

Ms AbdelGawad said the best part of the app has been that it stopped conversations around healthy lifestyles seeming like a chore to kids and that parents were just nagging.

HWQld senior public health nutritionist Rebecca Farletti said families looking to live a more health lifestyle should work as a team and start small,

“Something small that you can keep up over time makes a really big difference in our lives. and we’re more likely to stick with a positive change if it’s small and achievable,” she said.

“Working together is really motivating, really supportive and when we can see others in our family, making these great changes, it helps you feel empowered to do the same.”

You can find out more at playpodsquad.com.au or download the app free via Apple or Google.