Perspective - (2021) Volume 11, Issue 12
There is a clear correlation between early and fair learning opportunities and children's health, according to substantial data. Similarly, an individual's level of education has a long-term impact on their health. Governments have a primary responsibility to ensuring that school and educational conditions are as good as they may be. Establishing health-promoting schools is one way to reach these ideal settings. A health-promoting school is one that is always improving its ability to function as a healthy learning, living, and working environment. It enables all members of the school community to collaborate in order to provide integrated and positive experiences and structures for students and staff that promote and safeguard their health. Although the concept of health-promoting schools is gaining traction around the world, schools are at various stages of implementation and face a variety of challenges: some health professionals and educators are struggling to meet basic needs in schools, while others are promoting healthy lifestyles such as healthy food, physical activity, and non-smoking.
Healthy living • Lifestyle • Child health
Obesity in children is a severe public health issue both globally and in the United Kingdom [1]. According to the latest data from England's National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) in 2016–17, nearly a quarter of children starting primary school were overweight or obese. By the conclusion of elementary school, this had risen to more than a third of the students. Childhood obesity has long-term health and social ramifications, and the negative health effects of childhood obesity are likely to persist into adulthood. Obesity is difficult to reverse once it has developed, bolstering the need for primary prevention.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), to effectively combat obesity, activity in a variety of locations, with a variety of stakeholders, and a diversity of ways is essential. Furthermore, through complicated, multi-component treatments done in schools, a significant component of this is to tackle the key causes of obesity (nutrition and physical activity). The importance of schools in obesity prevention is highlighted by research and practise guides. Because children have long-term contact and spend a large portion of their waking hours at school, schools have a lot of potential for influencing healthy food and physical activity behaviours [2].
Chronic diseases and long-term illnesses can be avoided by leading a healthy lifestyle. Self-esteem and self-image are aided by feeling good about yourself and taking care of your health. Maintain a healthy lifestyle by following your body's instructions. Schools can promote healthy eating habits by establishing a school-wide food policy. Involving students and parents in directing the school's food policy and practise, allowing them to contribute to healthy eating, and acting on their comments. Healthy food options in school canteens. A health-promoting schools (HPS) method strives to make schools healthier places to be through a holistic approach that stresses improvements in physical, social, and emotional well-being as well as educational outcomes [3].
The Healthy Lifestyle Program (HLP), for example, is a two-day programme that includes group discussions, lectures, and a group fitness assessment. Nutrition, fitness, life coping skills, goal planning, and applying good logic and understanding to a healthy lifestyle are the key themes covered over these two days. Introduce the notion to the students at the school; Conduct a needs assessment - identify the root causes of problems and prioritise the requirements; Examine the personnel and financial resources that are accessible; Make a plan of action based on priorities and resources, and then put it into action. A healthy lifestyle has numerous advantages for both the body and the mind.
People can also lower their own risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis by maintaining a healthy lifestyle [4].
Providing information and resources to improve nutrition at each developmental stage, include physical activity into the child's everyday activities, provide suitable housing, promote oral health, and foster positive personality development are just a few examples. Because they can reach almost all children, schools are an excellent venue to promote physical activity and healthy nutrition. This study aims to promote the child's health and the sustainability of healthy food and physical exercise (healthy lifestyle) programmes in the primary school setting by briefly describing the School-based Healthy Living style [5].
Flexible and adaptable programmes, permitting appropriate contextual fit, well-resourced programmes, strong leadership at many levels, child (pupils support delivery), and parent involvement were deemed to aid effective implementation of school-based healthy lifestyle programmes. To ensure long-term viability, programmes were thought to need to be integrated into the curriculum and school policy over time, with on-going support from head teachers and employees. These findings are important for programmers, policymakers, and those in charge of implementing solutions.
Citation: Mohammed, Y. The Significance of Healthy Living Initiatives in Schools. Prim Health Care, 2021, 11(12), 418.
Received: 05-Dec-2021 Published: 26-Dec-2021
Copyright: © 2021 Mohammed, Y. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
