The health of our students, how can we
help?
All New Zealand
children deserve to be educated about the importance of a healthy lifestyle,
looking after their own Hauora, well-being.
Well-being
Hauora
For this blog
with limited word count I will give my thoughts around physical well-being, focussing
on food and exercise, although it is hard to mention one strand without the
others as they all interweave.
The government introduced
Fruit in Schools in 2005 to low decile schools, 66% of their principals said
they saw an improvement in the general health of their students. Today 543
schools are part of Fruit in Schools.
We
are a decile 5, so did not qualify for this programme, but as educators it is
our role to teach children about their physical well-being. The trend nationally and globally is obesity
is on the rise. NZ statistics show the child obesity rate
increased from 8% in 2006/07 to 11% in 2014/15. The World Health Organisation
state obesity is preventable and it is due to a rise in foods high in fat and a
lack of physical exercise. The lifelong
effect of unhealthy eating can lead to type 2 diabetes mellitus, stroke
and heart disease. Good nutrition helps
children concentrate and gives them energy. As part of our health programme we can teach
these healthy eating and the benefits of regular exercise, literacy and inquiry
can cover topics and obviously during PE we are increasing physical
fitness.
How many of our students walk or
bike to school? Very few as we have a large number of bus pupils and students
being driven because they live too far from school. We have a huge number of students playing
sport and this is encouraged for their physical as well as social well-being.
Last year, I ran an options
programme called Food, Fitness and Fun. We ate a different colour each block,
eating a rainbow over the two days. It
was astounding to see how many children had never tried different foods such as
capsicum and blue berries. We also looked at food labels including breakfast
cereals and measured the sugar content in put the sugar teaspoon equivalent and
put it in plastic bags. Reading labels on the popular drinks the students drank
shocked them, with the high sugar content. One girl went home and counted her
sugar content over a week and put all the sugar in a jar. She swapped her breakfast cereal and gave up
her chocolate biscuits habit for afternoon tea, slashing her sugar intake. This year, I am incorporating the above
topics thought literacy and the label reading for statistics in maths. Real life learning that will hopefully have a
positive impact on my students’ food choices.
School canteens need to provide
healthy food for students and schools provide water coolers or fountains to
drink from, so water is all that is on offer.
Our students often have bought lunches and are at an age where food
habits are being formed. This is an
achievable goal across schools in New Zealand to encourage healthy eating
habits. Globally the food industry
should reduce the sugar and fat in products and ensure healthy options are
affordable for everyone. In New Zealand
we can buy fizzy drink cheaper than milk, it’s no wonder we have an obesity
problem.
REFERENCES
Durie, M. (n.d.). Well-being, hauora. Retrieved
from http://health.tki.org.nz.
Health, Ministry of (2017, February). Fruit in
Schools programme. Retrieved from http://www.health.govt.nz.
Obesity and overweight. (2016, June). Retrieved from World Health
Organisation.
Obesity statistics. (2016, Decemeber). Retrieved from http://www.health.govt.nz.
Tracking the Obesity Epidemic. (December, 2004). Retrieved from health.govt.nz.
Kia Ora, Amanda. I enjoyed treading this blog because, coming from a PE background, I am fully aware of what we should be doing in schools. We need to look at things in our schools that we can change. I was a big fan of 'Fizz Free Schools' and tried to implement this in one of the schools I taught at. Unfortunately it got turned down as it was 'Too hard to police'. We need to look at what we sell in canteens and think about the foods we offer as treats; $5 pizzas, bucket of chicken, fish and chip lunches. I offer these things all the time without thinking about what I am teaching in the hidden curriculum.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.
Totally agree Niheta, thanks for your comments. Would love to see healthy food only sold in all school canteens. We are doing mindful eating as part of Pause, Breathe, Smile and the students are only allowed fruit.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. Amanda, your blog and Niheta, your comment is challenging me to think of other ways of rewarding students in my class - there is a high chance that my "treatsie box" which is full of all things sweet and unhealthy is sending students in my class the wrong message and reinforcing poor eating choices. I need to find a healthy alternative!
ReplyDelete