OUTSIDE of South Gippsland, they’re still sniggering and even guffawing about the town name we locals don’t even notice – Poowong.
Although the sensational rise to fame of the town’s favourite son, Hawthorn midfielder Jye Newcombe, and the fact they launched the critically acclaimed movie, Kenny, here, has certainly polished up the infamous moniker.
Even South Gippsland Shire Mayor, Cr Nathan Hersey, himself a Strzelecki representative, was careful not to make fun of the Poowong name this week, when a National Gut Health Month promotions team engineered a change in the name to ‘Pooright’.
Get it, don’t eat badly and ‘Poowong’, enjoy a balanced diet and ‘Pooright’!
They say it improves sleep, reduces stress, increases the feeling of wellbeing and better equips us for a happy productive life.
But Cr Hersey was more than happy to get involved in the Gut Health Month launch at Poowong this week, where a team of dietitians from the Dietitian Connection ran a gut health awareness program and trial involving six local families during the past week.
“It's a good message. It's obviously we’re here in Poowon and because of the name but we all know we love Poowong because it's a beautiful town, with its green, rolling hills and fertile soil. But if we can promote and support a really good message, which is about improving your health, making small changes in your diet that can impact long term outcomes, of course, we're happy to support it,” said Cr Hersey, stressing the inclusion of milk and probiotic yogurt, along with vegies, lean meat, fruit and nuts.
Gut Health Month is a national month, led by a team of dietitians from Dietitian Connection, to help all Australians feel better from the inside, out.
But the launch at Poowong wasn’t about trivial name play, it provided the opportunity to release important new research that states:
:• Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to always / often experience gut-related health issues compared to older generations (Gen Z: 49%, Millennials: 51% compared to Gen X: 40%, Baby Boomers: 34%).
• Australians who have children under 18 at home are more than twice as likely to say they always experience gut-related health issues (22%), compared to Australians who don’t have children under 18 at home (10%)
• Australians living in capital cities are more likely to say they experience gut-related health issues always or often (47%) compared to those who don’t live in capital cities (38%)
• Nearly half (48%) of Australians claim they are experiencing constipation or diarrhoea once a month or more often, with almost a quarter (23%) experiencing these once a week or more.
• NSW residents seem to be experiencing constipation or diarrhoea most often compared to other states, estimating this at 21 times a year, compared to WA at 15 times a year.
The Gut Health Month team is undertaking Australia’s first gut health community study with the residents of Poowong.
Dietitians are guiding households to make simple changes to their diet and lifestyle to help improve their gut health and overall wellbeing.
The Poowong Challenge will demonstrate to the nation how simple dietary and lifestyle changes can make a massive difference to gut health and overall wellbeing.
The results of this study were revealed at the launch at the Poowong Football Ground.
Poowong is an Aboriginal word meaning carrion and local First Nation's representatives were reportedly consulted about the promotional name change.