The organisation will receive $1.9 million over the next four years, most of which chief executive Brendon McDermott said would be spent on hiring four new staff members.
The Healthy Families programme would involve collaboration with other city agencies to reinforce the healthy living message and to reduce obesity and chronic disease levels, he said.
''It is exciting for Sport Southland and for Invercargill that the Government is putting money into the city. It is a fantastic opportunity.''
Mr McDermott said he expected the new staff members - a team leader and three others - to be employed by the end of the year.
Their first project would be a stocktake of nutrition, exercise, stop-smoking and other healthy living programmes already happening in the city, followed by creating an ''implementation map'' of how the agencies could achieve more by working together.
''This initiative is around changing the culture in the community ... How do we get into the different areas where people live, learn, work and play and give the same consistent message?''
Sport Southland was one of four local organisations short-listed to lead the initiative, he said.
All four agreed to work with the others if they won the contract.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said in a statement the Healthy Families initiative was ''a complete reform of the way we address the underlying causes of poor health, including obesity, smoking and excessive drinking''.
It was based on the Healthy Together Victoria programme from Australia, which he described as ''one of the very few anti-obesity programmes that actually works''.
Healthy Families New Zealand initiative
• $40 million over four years for programmes in 10 communities with higher-than-average rates of preventable chronic diseases such as diabetes, higher-than-average rates of risk factors for these diseases (such as smoking), and/or high levels of deprivation.
• The 10 communities are East Cape, the Far North District, Invercargill, Lower Hutt, Rotorua, Whanganui, Manukau, Manurewa-Papakura, Spreydon-Heathcote and Waitakere. Initiatives are expected to reach about 900,000 people.
• Initiative aims to improve people's health by encouraging them to make good food choices, be physically active, sustain a healthy weight, stopsmoking and drink alcohol only in moderation.
