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Table 2 Compulsory changes and possible additional activities to promote a healthy lifestyle

From: The Healthy Primary School of the Future: study protocol of a quasi-experimental study

Theme

Situation of control schools

Compulsory changes

HPSotF

PAS

Additional activities in HPSotF and PAS

School hours

➢ 08:30–14:30/15:00

➢ 08:30–15:30/16:00

X

X

 
 

Obligatory lessons. Lunch break for lunch from school 30–60 min.

Obligatory lessons. Lunch break and organised sports, free play and cultural activities of 75–90 min.

   

School health policy

➢ No school health policy.

   

Changing existing policy into healthy lifestyle stimulating policy.

Healthy lifestyle education

➢ No nutritional and/or physical activity education.

   

➢ ‘Lekker Fit’ program: healthy lifestyle education with physical activity and nutrition lessons as part of the curriculum [60].

Physical activity

➢ 30-min lunch break with free play.

➢ Organised sport, free play and cultural activities of at least 60 min a day.

X

X

➢ ‘By Foot And By Bike’ program: between-class competition focusing on active transport.

 

➢ 1 h PE/week.

   

➢ Energizers: introducing short breaks of physical activity during lessons.

 

➢ No physical activity breaks.

   

➢ Increased intensity of PE lessons [61].

 

➢ School yard with limited physical activity stimulating facilities.

   

➢ At least 2 PE lessons a week

➢ Introducing swimming lessons.

➢ Schoolyard with a physical activity stimulating environment.

➢ Introduction lessons by sports clubs.

Nutrition

➢ Children eat foods brought along from home at school or they have lunch at home.

➢ Healthy lunch and morning snack provided by school.

X

-

➢ ‘Smaaklessen’ program: practical food tasting lessons [62].

➢ Keeping a vegetable garden at the school yard.

➢ Distribution of water bottles.

Socio-emotional well-being

-

   

➢ ‘Taakspel’ program: a group-based approach in which children learn to comply better with rules in the classroom [63].

Parents

-

   

➢ Website with general advice for healthy practices at home.

➢ ‘Gezonde afspraken met je kind’: e-health program to make healthy agreements with one’s child.

➢ ‘Goedkoop Gezonde Voeding’ program: learning about cheap and healthy nutrition.

➢ Interactive theatre: interactive evening to discuss (obstacles of) healthy practices at home.

➢ ‘COOL’ program: lifestyle intervention for overweight children and their parents

➢ ‘Lifestyle Triple P’ program: lifestyle intervention for parents of overweight children.

  1. Abbreviations: HPSotF healthy primary school of the future, PAS physical activity school, PE physical education