CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVESThe topic of the project, Healthy Lifestyle, comes as a result of data collected in the 5 partner schools involved. As such, the rates of obesity problems (OP) and lack of regular physical activities (RPA) in our schools are:LT Partner School pupils has 25%OP, 40% RSES Partner School has 20% OP, 45% RS RO Partner School has 25% OP, 50% RS TR Partner School has 27% OP, 35% RS IT Partner School has 20% OP, 35% RSWith this worrying data in mind, we have established as the main objective of the project to raise students’ awareness of the causes and effects of obesity in relation to the sedentary that characterizes the current generations of students. At the same time, in order to measure the actual impact of the school we have proposed to decrease these rates by the end of the 2-year project.Another aim of this project is to get in contact with schools from other European countries in order to observe the situation in each of them and exchange good practices related to ways of combating such problems.METHODOLOGYWith all these in mind, we have divided our topic into several sub-topics which will constitute the theme of each meeting and exchange envisaged in the project:1. LT-M1- REQUIREMENTS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE2. ES-C1- EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PREVENT OBESITY3. RO-C2- HEALTHY EATING HABITS4. TR-C3 DEVELOPING LONG-TERM HEALTHY EATING HABITS5. IT-C4- SPORTING ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTDuring these meetings students will be in the center of all activities, as we believe that by involving them directly and supervising their work, the project will have a stronger impact on them.The project activities will result in the elaboration of 2 IOs – 1) Nutritional information and healthy foods for School Canteens, 2) Recommendation Book for improving regular sports in schools. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIESDuring the exchanges, students will join classes in the morning and, in the afternoons, they will work towards the achievement of specific goals within each activity:C1- ES The project teams will join the canteen and observe the dishes prepared regularly there. Then, each school cooks and presents traditional healthy dishes from their own countries and will actually cook 1 meal that will be tasted by the other participants;C2 –RO The activities will be organized in a forum presented by the students and which includes sub-topics such as - What is obesity?/ Causes / Effects on Health and social image/ The current rates of Obesity ;C3 – TR students put together the information and statistical data collected and will compile a brochure which contains a set of DOs and DON'Ts that every person should follow in order to live a healthy life;C4 – IT students and teachers will run workshops in which all kinds of easy-to-do exercises and games/sports will be presented and performed.NUMBER AND PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANTSStudents/teenagers: Each exchange involves the participation of 4 students/ country, which means an overall number of 16 students/country who will participate directly in the exchanges. These students will be selected prior to each mobility, based on transparent criteria, which will involve command of English, ICT skills, voluntary work, involvement in the school-based activities and motivation. The number of indirect beneficiaries is a lot larger, as every school will involve at least 10 other students before each mobility in the school-based pre-exchange activities.Teachers/Adults: There will be teams of 7 teachers in each partner organisation so 35 in total who will manage the project implementation. Each of them will be assigned clear tasks from the beginning. This team will involve managerial staff and at least 1 English teacher, 1 PE teacher, 1 Biology Teacher, 1 Medical worker, 1 ICT teacher. They will be chosen by the person in charge of the project, based on previous initiatives, motivation, CV and experience in handling projects. Based on the importance and relevance of their contribution before each exchange the 2 participating teachers/country/exchange will be selected from this team. RESULTS AND IMPACTSWe have assumed the publication of two IOs and 3 other intermediate products which will result from the activities performed during the exchanges. All these will be made available to larger audiences on the project website and through all the dissemination activities included in the dissemination plan.Therefore, we hope that there will be a positive, measurable impact at the level of participants (with a clear reduction of obesity rates among the target group members), of the local school communities and wider communities, at the level of the institutions involved and other related institutions, at local, regional, national and international levels.We have also initiated a sustainability plan which involves the implementation of the project results and the programme in at least 25 other schools/year in the three years following the end of the project.
BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT The topic of the project, “Healthy we – future guarantee“, came because of data collected in the 5 partner schools involved from Lithuania (LT), Spain (ES), Romania (RO), Turkey (TR) and Italy (IT). As such, the rates of obesity problems (OP) and lack of regular physical activities (RPA) in our schools were LT School pupils had 25% OP, 40% RPA; ES School had 20% OP, 45% RPA; RO School had 25% OP, 50% RPA; TR School had 27% OP, 35% RPA; IT School had 20% OP, 35% RPA. OBJECTIVES The main objective of the project – to raise students’ awareness about the causes and effects of obesity. Another aim – to get in contact with schools from other European countries in order to observe the situation in each of them and exchange good practices related to ways of combating obesity problems. NUMBER AND PROFILE OF PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS Five schools from five different countries were involved in the project: LT school – Kretingos rajono švietimo centras – coordinator. Organization is medium sized: total number of students is 158, teachers – 23 and 33 other staff members. The school provides formal and nonformal education for youth and adults, which grants "second chance" possibility for adults without primary or secondary education and helps children and youngsters to return to the consistent learning system. ES school – Ave Maria Varadero – partner. It is a primary and secondary school, located in Varadero–Motril, Granada – Spain. The school has 310 students and 23 teachers. RO school – "Raluca Ripan" Technical College – partner. It is a Romanian public vocational school with a tradition of over 60 years in the training of specialists in Food Industry. The school has about 350 students between 14- 19 years old; 32 teachers; 8 auxiliary personnel and a headmaster. TR scholl – Ozel Ege Bilim Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi – partner. The school is a health vocational school in Istanbul, Turkey. There are 410 students studying nursing and anaesthesia branches at school between the ages 15-18. There are 25 teachers from different branches and 4 administrative staff at school. IT school – ipsiagalileogalilei – partner. It is a vocational school specializing in: Electronics, Electricity, Mechanics, Graphic Design and Advertising, Social Health Services and a course for Dental technicians. The school also has evening classes for adults. It has 125 teachers and 32 among administrative assistants and caretakers, 836 pupils. DESCRIPTION OF MAIN ACTIVITIES: During all exchanges, students presented information about schools, cities and countries, joined classes in the morning. In the afternoons, they worked towards the achievement of specific goals within each mobility and participated in cultural programmes prepared by hosting school to give the opportunity for the students to be acquainted with other cultures, traditions and customs. M1-LT REQUIREMENTS FOR A HEALTHY LIFE. First partner meeting was organized to know each other better and to plan project activities. C1-ES EFFECTIVE WAYS TO PREVENT OBESITY. Students presented PPTs on project subtopic and worked in groups to prepare a handbook „Obesity: causes, effects and prevention“. They also attended classes, took part in forum and sport lessons. C2- RO HEALTHY FOODS. Students presented traditional local healthy menus and cooked one traditional main dish. In the IT lab, working in groups students calculated calories for the prepared dish, evaluated dishes prepared by partner teams, took part in forum and sport lessons. C3-IT SPORTING ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT. Students presented traditional games and performed them. They attended classes and played indoor and outdoor games. C4-TR DEVELOPING LONG-TERM HEALTHY EATING HABITS. Students presented local research “Healthy lifestyle habits“ results, put together the information and statistical data and compiled a brochure „Dos and don’ts to live a healthy life“. Students also attended an important conference held by a famous doctor and visited the hospital for people having obesity and diabetic problems, in order to get information about eating programmes designed for people with weight problems. M2-LT Final project conference was organizes to present the project results, to foresee what has to be changed by the end of the project and to share the positive impact attained. RESULTS AND IMPACT The project team prepared and published 2 IOs – booklets “Healthy Food for a Healthy Life. Nourishment Info and Recommendations“, „Traditional games to keep fit and healthy“ and 2 intermediate products: a handbook „Obesity: causes, effects and prevention“, brochure „Dos and don’ts to live a healthy life“. All these results are public and available to larger audiences on the project website and were presented in all the dissemination activities that were included in the dissemination plan. All partners agreed that during 3 years period we will involve 15 schools (3 each partner) to use our project resul