Report No. 015-12

TO: Chair and Members of the Board of Health
FROM: Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC, Medical Officer of Health
DATE: 2012 February 16

Healthy Living Champions Awards for 2010-2011

Recommendation

It is recommended that Report No. 015-12 re Healthy Living Champions Awards For 2010-2011 be forwarded to the Thames Valley District School Board, the London and District Catholic School Board, the Conseil Scolaire de District du Centre-Sud-Ouest and participating private schools.

Background

Schools have a significant impact on the health behaviours and outcomes of children and youth.  Schools can play a key role in supporting students’ health and wellbeing, and by extension, the health of their families and communities.  The Healthy Living Champions (HLC) Award, developed by the Child Health Team Public Health Nurses and Dietitian, assists in creating healthier school environments. It takes an upstream approach to promoting and making healthy eating choices and physical activity opportunities available to students in elementary schools and the broader school community.  A healthy school environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity through both words and actions assists children in developing healthy habits that can last a lifetime.  

The HLC Award was introduced to elementary schools in Middlesex-London in 2007. This Award recognizes elementary schools in London and Middlesex County for their commitment to promoting physical activity and healthy eating.  The Award is based on the Ministry of Education’s ‘Foundations for a Healthy School’ framework.  The framework addresses the components of Comprehensive School Health, which include: 1) High Quality Instruction and Programs, 2) a Healthy Physical Environment, 3) a Supportive Social Environment, and 4) Community Partnerships.  The Healthy Living Champions Award includes strategies to promote physical activity and healthy eating under each of these categories.  To be eligible for the Award, a minimum of 5,000 points must be achieved in each of the healthy eating and physical activity strategies with a minimum total of 15,000 points.  The Award levels include Gold (25,000 + points), Silver (20,000 + points) and Bronze (15,000 + points).

School Participation

For the 2010-2011 school year, 78 elementary schools in Middlesex-London were successful in receiving the Award, representing a participation rate of over 50%.  Of the 78 schools that were successful, 44 were from the Thames Valley District School Board, 26 were from the London District Catholic School Board, 5 were Private, and 3 were from the Conseil Scolaire de District du Centre-Sud-Ouest.  Of the 78 schools, 46 received Gold, 20 received Silver and 12 received Bronze. Successful schools represented various socioeconomic and geographic areas of Middlesex-London.

Recognition

Last year, schools were surveyed to determine their preferred method of recognition for Award success.  Their preferred forms of recognition included: print media, physical activity equipment and plaques/seals.  This year, all successful schools received physical activity equipment in accord with their level of achievement, recognition in local print media, and plaques with seals to display in their schools.

Programming Related to Healthy Living Champions Awards

The HLC Award encourages schools to promote and engage in healthy eating and physical activity.  The Award criteria list activities that schools can engage in, such as: the ‘Big Crunch’, ‘Eating Through the Alphabet’, non-food item fundraising, intramural physical activities, and staff role-modeling.  Schools often develop their own creative strategies, engaging campaigns and activities like ‘Healthy Snackamania’, a family barn dance, ‘Lunch Bunch’ cooking club, ‘Boot Camp’, a ‘Snow Tower’ contest; and aerobic dance classes at lunch.  This Award assists in creating partnerships among students, staff, administration, parents, and public health professionals working collaboratively to create healthier school environments. 

Funding

The funds received for the program were used to provide a cheque for each award-winning school. The amount varied depending on the award status: gold, silver or bronze. The HLC Award program is extremely fortunate to receive financial support from four sources:

• London Life – The Key to Giving ($5,000)
• Thames Valley School Board ($2,000)
• London District Catholic School Board ($1,000)
• Middlesex-London Health Unit – The Health Unit provided approximately $4,000 to purchase sports equipment which was divided among the winning schools to support efforts to increase physical activity among students. Each school was provided with equipment for various school activities (e.g., intramurals, classroom outdoor activities, etc.). The equipment was appreciated, and participating schools have requested sports equipment as part of the Award recognition in 2011/2012.

Future Steps

Improvements to the HLC Award are made annually.  This year, changes were incorporated to simplify the Award documentation/application process.  Also, point allocations were adjusted to encourage a more comprehensive approach (e.g., role modeling, peer leadership programs).  In addition, safety and dental health, as they relate to healthy eating and physical activity, were added into the Award criteria.

Currently, the Committee overseeing this initiative is exploring expanding the Award in an effort to make it more comprehensive and allow for greater flexibility in addressing other health topics.  A survey will be administered to obtain feedback from stakeholders about the types of enhancements they would like to see in the Award program.  

Conclusion

The Healthy Living Champions Award engages elementary school communities in Middlesex-London to create opportunities for children to be active, make healthier food choices, and be in a supportive school environment that makes it easier for them to embrace healthy living. The Award has been an important complement to the comprehensive Healthy Schools work carried out in City and County schools by Public Health Nurses and the Dietitian on the Child Health Team. The Award creates partnerships between schools and community agencies and is an effective way to move schools toward being healthier places to learn and play.  Opportunities for future enhancements to the Award for 2012-2013 are being considered.

This report was prepared by Ms. Christine Callaghan, Public Health Dietitian; Ms. Kristina Nairn, PHN, Ms. Denise Walsh, PHN, and Ms. Heather Lokko, Manager, Child Health Team.

Graham L. Pollett, MD, FRCPC
Medical Officer of Health

This report addresses the following requirement(s) of the Ontario Public Health Standards: Chronic Disease Standard 3 and 11, Child Health Standard 4, 5 and the Foundational Standard.