A dedicated group of west Aucklanders are healthier and a collective 750kg lighter thanks to their local rugby team and the support of Primary Healthcare Organisation, ProCare.

Four years ago, the Mammoth team (part of the Waitemata Rugby Club) decided it wanted to give back to players and whānau during the off season by offering a free programme that focused on health and wellbeing.  The eight week Mammoth Challenge programme was launched, where teams of four comprising players, their wives, aunts, mums and children gathered three times a week to work on fitness, to learn about healthy eating and diabetes self-management.

With one in four of New Zealand’s Pacific population predicted to suffer from Type-2 diabetes by 2040, Tāmaki Makaurau-based ProCare was delighted at the opportunity to partner with the team to tackle diabetes head on.

ProCare Group CEO Bindi Norwell, says “ProCare represents the largest Pacific population enrolled in General Practice in New Zealand with just over 100,000 people across Auckland.  We are committed to improving the health outcomes for Pacific people and we are working hard to reduce the incidence of diabetes through community education programmes and access to quality general practice.”

ProCare’s Diabetes Self-Management Education Coordinator, Valita Partsch, was delighted to support the club’s efforts.

“It’s fantastic to see a community rugby club passionately support their members and their whānau to help them to lead healthy lifestyles.

“Everyone involved has been keen to learn more about getting the right nutrition, maintaining a healthy weight going forward, and reducing their blood sugar levels, which is what causes Type-2 diabetes.

“At the start of the programme we encourage participants to visit their family doctor and have their blood sugar levels checked and then re-checked after the programme so they can see the improvement.

“Most participants just want to be great role models for their young families and live a long and healthy life to see them grow up.”

Each year the number of people taking up the challenge has steadily increased with 88 whānau participating this year.  As well as providing families with the encouragement and support they need to live healthier lives, significant weight loss has been a major result of the programme, with a whopping 720kg in total shed across all 88 participants and the winning team losing 79kg. 

“It has been wonderful to see a renewed focus on living healthier lives across all of the groups- but the most important thing out of the whole programme was that everyone had loads of fun,” says Mrs Partsch.

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Contact:

Ruth Morse
Senior Communications Advisor
Ruth.morse@procare.co.nz
021 263 1415

About ProCare
ProCare is New Zealand’s largest and most diverse co-operative of healthcare professionals in New Zealand. As a Primary Health Organisation ProCare is committed to improving the health of New Zealander’s and is responsible for the health outcomes of over 800,000 patients enrolled across the 170 general practices in its network across Tāmaki Makaurau. www.procare.co.nz