Dataset Information

Comprehensive school health in Canada.

ABSTRACT: The Canadian education system is among the best in the world academically. In contrast, students' (children and youth) eating and activity levels are so poor that they have led to prevalence rates of overweight that are among the highest in the world. Given the enormous public health burden associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity, Canada needs to address this health risk. Comprehensive school health (CSH) is a promising approach to promoting healthy eating and active living (HEAL). This article provides a review of CSH and discusses its four essential elements: 1) teaching and learning; 2) social and physical environments; 3) healthy school policy; and 4) partnerships and services. It also provides a common understanding of the implementation and broader benefits of CSH, which, in addition to health, include student learning and self-esteem. The article further discusses some complexities of a rigorous evaluation of CSH, which comprises proof of implementation, impact and positive outcome. Though such an evaluation has yet to be conducted, some studies did confirm successful implementation, and another study observed positive outcomes. Rigorous evaluation is urgently needed to provide a stronger evidence base of the benefits of CSH for learning, self-esteem and disease prevention. This evidence is essential to justify devoting more school time to promote HEAL and more resources to implement and support CSH to the benefit of both learning and health.

SUBMITTER: Veugelers PJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6974266 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comprehensive school health in Canada.

Veugelers Paul J PJ Schwartz Margaret E ME

Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique 20100701

The Canadian education system is among the best in the world academically. In contrast, students' (children and youth) eating and activity levels are so poor that they have led to prevalence rates of overweight that are among the highest in the world. Given the enormous public health burden associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity, Canada needs to address this health risk. Comprehensive school health (CSH) is a promising approach to promoting healthy eating and active living (HEAL) ...[more]

PMID: 21133195

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Project description:BackgroundGlobally, 19 million children have preventable vision impairment simply because refractive and eye health services are inaccessible to most of them. In Zambia, approximately 50,000 school children need spectacle provision. The School-based Eye Health Programme (SEHP) has been identified worldwide as a proven strategy to address childhood blindness. Given its great benefits, the Zambian government intends to scale up the programme. This scalability assessment aims to identify and evaluate the essential components of an effective SEHP, determine roles, assess existing capacities within user organisations, identify environmental facilitating and inhibiting factors, and estimate the minimum resources necessary for the scaling up and their proposed scale-up strategies.MethodsFive elements (innovation, user organisation, resource team, environment, and strategies for horizontal and vertical scaling-up) were assessed guided by the ExpandNet-WHO Nine Steps for Developing a Scaling-Up Strategy. Literature review on proven strategies to reduce childhood blindness and the credibility of SEHP implemented in resource-limited settings, document review on the pilot project, questionnaires, and stakeholders' interviews were conducted to collect data for this assessment. Subsequently, twenty questions in the Worksheets for Developing a Scaling-up Strategy were used to report the assessment outcome systematically.ResultsAdditional components of SEHP incorporated in Zambia's model enhanced the innovation's credibility and relevance. The resource team was relatively competent in the pilot project, and the same team will be employed during the scaling-up. Potential change in political parties, the lack of supply chain, and unstable financial support were identified as inhibiting factors. The objectives of SEHP were aligned with the National Eye Health Strategic Plan 2017-2021, which supports the institutionalisation of the SEHP into the existing School Health and Nutrition Programme. For the pace of expansion, replicating SEHP to another district rather than a province will be more realistic.ConclusionScaling up a comprehensive SEHP in Zambia is feasible if sufficient funding is available. Additionally, the pace must be adapted to the local context to ensure that every component within the SEHP is intact.

Dataset Information

Comprehensive school health in Canada.

Publications

Comprehensive school health in Canada.

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