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83 Kindergartens Join CUHK¡¦s Healthy Schools (Pre-school) Award Scheme A health survey done by the Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion of the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong indicates the health condition of pre-school children needs great improvement. It demonstrates a considerable concern for pre-school children¡¦s eating habit, hygiene practices and living environment. Capitalizing on the success of the Healthy Schools Award Scheme, the Centre launches the Healthy Schools (Pre-school) Award Scheme to promote the collaboration in parents, schools and the community building a healthier future for our next generation. In 2004, the Centre has conducted a health survey for 1,639 pre-school children aged 2-7 by means of parent questionnaires. The results showed that 14.2% of these children were reported over-weight. Nearly 75% of them had a daily intake of vegetables less than 1-2 servings and the intake of fruits less than 1 serving as recommended by dietitian. Though 86.6% of these children would consume milk frequently, 61.3% of the parents would choose full cream milk for their children and only 14.1% of the parents would choose low fat milk or skimmed milk. As well, only 74% of these children had five times or more outdoor activities in a week. In addition, only 20% of these children would wash hands before meals and almost 78% of them had never have dental check-up. On the other hand, 24.1% of these children were exposed to second-hand smoke at home more than one hour per day and more than 34.4% of them were exposed to second-hand smoke at indoor environment more than one hour per day. It was reported that the sources of the second-hand smoke were mainly the family member (23%) and the public area (63.3%). Professor Albert Lee, Director of the Centre for Health Education and Health Promotion said that the findings of the study demonstrate that the parents of the pre-school children should pay more concern on maintaining a balanced diet and regular exercise for their children. It is clear that the living environment has direct impact to one¡¦s health, the parents are responsible to keep a healthy living environment for their children, such as building a smoke-free home. Professor Lee also pointed out that good hygiene practices should be developed when children were young. In fact, many studies revealed that it is more effective to establish healthy living style and good hygiene practices when children are young than changing their bad living habit after it has set in their minds. Hence, Professor Lee urged that stronger collaboration should be built between families and schools so as to provide a healthy living and learning environment for children to ensure a positive health starting early in their life. The ¡§Healthy Schools (Pre-school) Award Scheme¡¨ is supported by the Quality Education Fund and the Hong Kong Institution of Education (HKIEd) is the major collaborating party of the Scheme. The Scheme has gained the endorsement from the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO/WPRO) and is the first health promoting school movement in pre-school education. The Education and Manpower Bureau, HKIEd together with the Centre are the awarding bodies of the Scheme. The ¡§Healthy Schools (Pre-school) Award Scheme¡¨ is built on the framework which consists of components for health promoting school in six key areas adapted from the WHO¡¦s guidelines including School Health Policies, Health Services, Personal Health Skills, Social Environment, Community Relationships, and Physical Environment. It aims to promote a healthy, hygienic, safe and harmonious learning environment and balanced development of different aspects necessary to a child¡¦s development and enhance the quality education for pre-school children. A comprehensive framework and guidelines will be provided and there is a system to monitor the progress of development and to accredit the attainment of the participating kindergartens. The Centre would organize training for staff to equip them with knowledge and skills to promote health in kindergarten children and to conduct self-evaluation on the progress of developing a healthy kindergarten. The participating kindergartens would be provided with professional support for organizing health education and health promoting activities as family health education. The Centre would facilitate the participating kindergartens in accessing relevant health information and encourage them to set up health resources corner. District-based healthy kindergarten networks would be established as a platform for sharing experience and good practices. The Centre would also promote mentor-mentee relationship between Healthy School Mentors and participating kindergartens to realize the full potential of the sustainable development of the concept of health promoting school. As well, the collaboration between kindergartens and primary health care professionals who are interested in promoting child health would be promoted to strengthen the health services for kindergarten children. Professor Lee said that the Scheme not only aims to promote the all-round development of pre-school children, but also to improve the health and well-being of parents, school staff and the community at large. The Scheme would promote balanced development, better health and emotional well-being for kindergarten children, as well, staff development, parental education, involvement of whole school community and linkage with different stakeholders in kindergarten setting. The Scheme received enormous responses from the public and a total of 83 kindergartens will participate in the Scheme. It is anticipated that the Scheme will eventually extend to all early childhood settings in Hong Kong. Professor Lee also added with the concerted effort of the Centre and its scheme partner, HKIEd, the potential and the benefits of the Scheme should be fully revealed. With the joint effort of all stakeholders, we will build a healthy tomorrow for Hong Kong. |