A Picture of Health Positive change to better our children’s lifestyles and well being Written and Presented by Samantha Johnson

The Obesity Epidemic % Obesity Males Females Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults aged 18 years and over has continued to rise to 63.4% in from 61.2% in and 56.3% in However the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children aged 5-17 has remained stable at 25.3% in Adapted from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008).

Healthier Diets The Crunch and Sip program is a great method for “encouraging children to sip water throughout the day in class and eat a piece of fruit or vegies (like carrot or celery) during a morning or afternoon break is a simple and cost effective strategy for good health” (Crunch and Sip, 2013). This program is WA based but also takes place in some NWS and SA schools due to it’s success. During the last two weeks we have come up with some amazing ideas to better this program for our students within our classroom by making it more exciting. ideas Some further resources have also been attached to show how we can incorporate awareness of healthy eating into our lessons.resources (Crunch&Sip, 2013)

Exercise and Play According to some research by the Government of Western Australia the amount of physical activity among students in our schools is quite minimal. Some positive things that we can do to change this may include:research – Daily morning fitness ( mins) – Run around Australia poster (whole year project) – Fitness as a reward for positive reinforcement in behaviour – Greater diversity of games with minimal stoppages encouraging endurance (modified sports, team games, balls, running, memory) Name and briefly explain a morning fitness routine from your class!routine

Healthy Lifestyle Habits Eating healthily and drinking lots of water affects students’ concentration and behaviour in the classroom Reference. As a teacher you are responsible for the health and care of the rest of your class too. This means encouraging healthy habits, routines and behaviour. – Create fun and interactive health lessons that students will benefit from without embarrassment. – Utilize colourful displays and encourage students to embrace these habits at home and school – Consider doing some research on guest speakers that either your class or the whole school could benefit from, these suggestions will be considered to help promote these important habits – Be a role model and encourage parents to do the same

To Close Up The ‘Biggest Losers’ will share healthy and easy recipes for lunch time and snacks and will include weekly weigh ins to encourage us to be healthy role models too! This is obviously not compulsory however if you are interested, see Sandy. Enjoy the rest of your week!