What do you mean by Health and Health Promotion?

 By Anna Amiranda  PTA Health Promotion

Health means different things to different people.

In many cultures, health is mainly intended as freedom from physical disease or pain, and is the most important aspect of life, together with love and then money. However, a common belief is that poor health equals to “bad” and wellbeing to “good”.

According to the World Health Organization, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. This broader sense of Health was later further developed in the Ottawa Charter, the document originated from the 1st International Conference on Health Promotion, held in 1986 in Ottawa. In this occasion, the WHO said that health is: "a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities".

The purpose of the conference was to stimulate action for the promotion of health for all (Ottawa Charter).

Health Promotion at LGB

The LGB Campus has developed a Health Promotion Programme over several years, in line with the priorities identified by the Health Promotion Committee around healthy diet, prevention of addictions, health education, psycho-social health and the promotion of physical activities (LGB Health Promotion).

Specifically, LGB has expressed the desire to collaborate proactively with the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) around the issue of a healthy diet for our students. As many of you may already know from previous updates, there is a specific project on healthy diet, under which we are developing a set of learning goals to improve this important aspect in our kids' lives. The meeting held on 20 March 2013 with parents showed a significant interest about this issue and the brainstorming session allowed the opportunity to provide useful feedback and propose tangible, creative and pragmatic options for implementation in the LGB campus. (The meeting minutes are posted on our website LGB Health Promotion).

Our “good health” depends on the context of our lives and on the wide range of factors contributing towards our health, which can in many cases be brought under our control. Therefore, despite many challenges due to personal habits and cultural differences, the issue of healthy diet may provide an excellent opportunity to make a positive impact on the wellbeing and growth of our children. To do so, one of the key priority is to intervene and create a more conducive environment to healthy habits inside the school and in the cafeteria.

There is so much we can do to encourage our kids to learn about food and about healthy diets. After all, food is culture, but also economy, geography, history, and definitively a source of pleasure. A pleasure not only due to its taste or quality, but that is also based on knowledge of how the food was produced, who produced it and the way it arrived on our plate. These aspects can also be considered in the form of extra activities under the Healthy Diet Project.

However, the first and the most predominant concept about healthy diet is that food education begins and is mostly shaped in the family.  Parents’ contributions and cooperation with the school on this topic is essential to achieve any meaningful impact. Even simple messages can lead to important results.

At LGB, we have an excellent opportunity to develop the required synergies, to modify and improve the current environment and influence the learning of our children on this important topic.  

All the latest guidelines stress the importance of the Food Pyramid, the power of seasonal fresh products and the critical role of physical activity. This could be a great start!

The Food Pyramid is a practical tool to find out if what we eat every day is balanced and well assorted. In particular, it shows us how we should choose products: lots of fruits and vegetables, a few sweets and red meat. It is essential to keep in mind that the food pyramid is a guide, which is then adapted to our needs. Following this simple guideline is useful to maintain a good state of health.

In conclusion, it should be noted that many studies confirm that children with greater nutritional education have a better relationship with food because they experience a wider variety of food in their diet. It is our responsibility to act in this area and give priority to food education as well as taste education. It is important to stimulate curiosity, encourage and reward healthy initiatives, creating a conducive environment, at home as well as at school.