WHO INFORMATION SERIES ON SCHOOL HEALTH ... - PAHO/WHO

5.2.2 Active transport to and from school
Promoting Physical Activity in Schools
Children and adolescents have the daily opportunity to be physically active on their way to school and back
home (78;79). Choosing an active mode of transportation by walking or cycling increases not only the physical
activity level of schoolchildren but also protects the environment. If parents accompany their children on
their way to and from school, this also creates a good opportunity for parents to be physically active and for
families to communicate. It goes without saying that communities and schools must enable their students
to use an active mode of transportation by providing them with a safe environment for walking and cycling
(also see 5.8 A health supportive school environment).
5.3 Skill-based health education
Skills-based health education is designed to help students acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills which
are needed to make informed decisions, practice healthy behaviours and create conditions that are conducive
to health.
Skill-based health education should:
• Provide knowledge about the relationship of physical activity and health, its positive benefits for
physical, psychological and social well-being and the long- and short-term consequences of sedentary
lifestyles, such as obesity and risk of chronic diseases.
• Help students develop positive attitudes about physical activity; that is - personal perceptions,
such as feeling responsible for one’s own health and viewing physical activity as fun and rewarding
in addition to being important for health.
• Reinforce physical education classes by helping students acquire life skills that may make it easier
for them to adopt and maintain physically active lifestyles.
• Encourage students to develop motor skills and physical fitness, i.e. high levels of flexibility, strength,
coordination and endurance, necessary for active games and sports.
Health education can also complement physical education by enabling students to acquire comprehensive
knowledge on healthy living – not only on physical activity but also on issues such as healthy eating, tobacco
use, drug use, behaviours that result in injury and other issues that are relevant to the promotion of physical
activity. It also presents an opportunity for schools to address theoretical knowledge on physical activity so
that the physical education classes can concentrate more on actual activity.
WHO Information Series on School Health 24