About
There is nothing more important than our physical and mental health and wellbeing to ensure we thrive and live the best lives we can. Small daily actions can have a massive impact on how we feel and function every day and repeated often, can help us to develop the resilience that is so crucial for a good health for life.
Research shows that the first 10 years of life are critical to embedding attitudes and habits that support health and wellbeing. It also strongly links the positive impact small daily actions have on our mental and physical health like; eating nutrient-rich foods and sleeping well, moving often, replacing device time with time spent with others or getting outside into nature and drinking plenty of fresh water. So we create our fun and entertaining programs that encourage simple steps every day to support and nurture hauora, ensuring tamariki thrive as youngsters with their actions over time creating deeply embedded habits.
Our tamariki are often the greatest influencers of their friends and whanau, so the ripple effect of their learning and action is exponential.
Our Story: The Virtual Adventure Program
Originating in Aotearoa as a fun corporate wellbeing program, the Virtual Adventure for schools / kura was created for the NSW Ministry of Health, collaborating with NSW Rugby League and successfully evaluated by the University of Sydney. The report showed it having a myriad of benefits to the participants, including moving more, but more importantly, loving the feeling of being more fit and healthy as a result of participating. Read more here.
In Aotearoa in 2016, with the support of sponsors, 15,000 children and their parents took part in the Virtual Adventure and the 2018 event saw more than 40,000 tamariki and whānau from across Aotearoa participating and many more on the waiting list.
Despite the challenges of 2020, twenty thousand tamariki from kura / schools from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South, took part in the Zespri Young and Healthy Virtual Adventure, visited and supported by our inspiring ASICS Ambassadors and making more healthy habits a part of their day.
We know that when tamariki are active, sleeping and eating well, they concentrate and learn better in class, and if games are on offer their engagement goes up a notch!
This program is a fun way to discuss and integrate principles of hauora. It uses a little bit of technology to engage our "iPad generation" and takes your class on a virtual global adventure, led by a star cast of NZ sporting elite, ASICS Ambassadors; Ardie Savea, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Kane Williamson and Olivia Shannon.
By engaging in small healthy daily behaviours in the real world, participants earn points to move their class around the virtual course "visiting" places like; Peru, China, New Zealand and more. As well as getting healthy tips from our ASICS Ambassadors, they'll learn about the history and culture of the destinations they reach.
We know that when tamariki are active, sleeping and eating well, they concentrate and learn better in class, and if games are on offer their engagement goes up a notch!
To reach more people, in a cost-effective way, working with a passionate group of animators and developers, we created an entertaining, online wellbeing challenge that has been embraced by workplaces, schools, children and their families.
Our Mission
Young and Healthy engage tamariki in a fun way to develop a love of being active and making the best choices they can to positively impact their mental and physical health, every day and for their future.
Our Vision
For the tamariki of Aotearoa to develop strong and lasting foundations of hauora / wellbeing.