Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Working with schools
Box 30.1 The Class Moves!
Many schools will support healthy eating messages
by making fruit available at break times, by allowing
pupils to have bottles of water on their desks, and by
ensuring that any vending machines are filled with
healthy options rather than drinks high in sugar and
snacks high in saturated fat, salt and sugar.
Similarly, physical activity may be promoted in
primary schools by encouraging activity with playground
markings, and the inclusion of programs such
as The Class Moves! 7 It was developed in the
Netherlands and has now been modified and translated
for use in Wales and Scotland, The Class Moves!
provides activities in the classroom for 4 – 12 - year -
olds, which can be undertaken at the desk as a short
refreshing break from concentration.
healthy diets performed better in school than children
with unhealthy diets. Therefore, enhanced learning
can be regarded as an additional benefit of a healthy
diet in childhood. Key messages for school - based programs
and policies are the importance of promoting
dietary adequacy and variety, increased fruit and vegetable
intake and a moderate consumption of dietary
fat (see Box 30.1 ). 4
Physical activity has a long tradition in schools, and
the importance of having enough physical exercise
and participating in sport has been acknowledged
since the nineteenth century. Nowadays, physical education
is included in the curriculum in primary and
secondary schools, and attention is given throughout
the school program for promoting physical activity
and sports. The school offers a wide range of options
for increasing physical activity for school - aged children,
not only through the curriculum (physical education,
integration with science and other subjects),
but also by offering after - school programs and supporting
initiatives for safe walking and cycling to
school, as well as using the school as a community
resource for physical activity. Schools often have a
wide range of facilities available, including a gym and
outside play area, which can also be used by the local
community. Many studies have been carried out to
demonstrate the link between physical activity and
academic performance, although there is a shortage of
prospective, controlled research in this connection.
Retrospective studies found a weak or no relationship
between this connection; prospective studies suggested
concentration increases for a brief time after
physical activity or that there is an increased rate of
learning per unit of school time, but that these effects
are not sufficient to increase academic performance. 9
Since obesity is now recognized as one of the major
public health threats, increased attention has been
given to developing integrated programs for schools.
When dealing with the issue of obesity in a school
setting the two issues of healthy eating and physical
activity are usually addressed. The focus in these programs
is on “ energy balance ” . We now know that the
most effective way is to integrate these issues into
more coordinated programs that promote healthy
lifestyles and that are incorporated into the health -
promoting school approach. 5
Context of h ealth
p romoting s chools
The importance of education for health outcomes and
of health for learning outcomes is well established. 10
When health education became a topic in schools in
the Western world during the nineteenth century, the
focus was narrow, relating to the individual, and covering
moral and physical issues, including hygiene, the
prevention of infectious diseases and incorporating
strict warnings, for example, on the dangers of using
alcohol. The methods used for health education were
based on the transmission of knowledge.
The health promoting school approach incorporates
the following principles: 3
• Health has physical, mental, social and emotional
dimensions.
• Providing information does not necessarily improve
student ’s health outcomes.
• More active involvement of learners promotes
behavioral change.
• Individual behavior is influenced by social factors
such as peer pressure.
• Physical and socio-cultural environments, including
the school environments, influence individual
and community well - being.
In Europe, the health - promoting school approach
was introduced in 1992 and has since developed,
supported by the European Network for Health
Promoting School s ( ENHPS ) and now the Schools
for Health in Europe network (SHE network).
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