"Healthy Eating - Healthy Action": evaluating New Zealand's obesity prevention strategy.
BACKGROUND
New Zealand rates of obesity and overweight have increased since the 1980s, particularly among indigenous Māori people, Pacific people and those living in areas of high deprivation. New Zealand's response to the obesity epidemic has been The Healthy Eating-Healthy Action: Oranga Kai - Oranga Pumau (HEHA) Strategy ('the Strategy'), launched in 2003. Because the HEHA Strategy explicitly recognises the importance of evaluation and the need to create an evidence base to support future initiatives, the Ministry of Health has commissioned a Consortium of researchers to evaluate the Strategy as a whole.


METHODS
This paper discusses the Consortium's approach to evaluating the HEHA Strategy. It includes an outline of the conceptual framework underpinning the evaluation, and describes the critical components of the evaluation which are: judging to what extent stakeholders were engaged in the process of the strategy implementation and to what extent their feedback was incorporated in to future iterations of the Strategy (continuous improvement), to what extent the programmes, policies, and initiatives implemented span the target populations and priority areas, whether there have been any population changes in nutrition and/or physical activity outcomes or behaviours relating to those outcomes, and to what extent HEHA Strategy and spending can be considered value for money.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper outlines our approach to evaluating a complex national health promotion strategy. Not only does the Evaluation have the potential to identify interventions that could be adopted internationally, but also the development of the Evaluation design can inform other complex evaluations.
McLean
Rachael M
RM
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Otago, New Zealand. rachael.mclean@otago.ac.nz
Hoek
Janet A
JA
Buckley
Sue
S
Croxson
Bronwyn
B
Cumming
Jacqueline
J
Ehau
Terry H
TH
Tanuvasa
Ausaga Fa'asalele
AF
Johnston
Margaret
M
Mann
Jim I
JI
Schofield
Grant
G
D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006293:Health Promotion; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods*