CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES The topic of the project, Healthy Lifestyle, comes as a result of data collected in the 3 partner schools involved. As such, the rates of obesity problems (OP) and lack of regular physical activities (RS) in our schools are: SK Partner School pupils has 20%OP, 50% RS GRC Partner School has 20% OP, 45% RS RO Partner School has 25% OP, 50% RS With 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 sedentarism 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. METHODOLOGY With all these in mind, we have divided our topic into three sub-topics which will constitute the theme of each meeting and exchange envisaged in the project: 1. SK-C1- EUROPEAN CUISINES 2. GRC-C2- JUNK FOOD V´S HEALTHY FOOD 3. RO-C3- BENEFITS OF SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY Students will be in the centre of all activities, as we believe that by involving them directly and supervising their work, the project will have a stronger impact on them. Daily physical exercise will be a part of their schedule. They will compare cuisines, food, lifestyles, popular sports of their countries. They will have lessons, lectures, excursions on topics related to healthy lifestyle to gain a new vision of life. The project activities will result in the final outcome – HEALTH GUIDE FOR TEENS BY TEENS. DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES During the exchanges, students will learn and practice one sport that is popular in the host school surroundings, join classes in the morning, in the afternoons, they will work towards the achievement of specific goals within each activity: C1- SK Students will practice winter sports. There will be workshops on rules, history and presence of skiing. The mixed project teams will cook traditional national dishes and taste them. They will compare European cuisines and their contribution to longevity. C2 –GRC Students will practice athletics. There will be workshops on rules, history and presence of athletics. The mixed project teams will cook healthy dishes. C3 – RO Students will practice basketball. There will be workshops on rules, history and presence of this sport. All kinds of easy-to-do exercises and games will be presented and performed. They will compare sports popularity in their countries. NUMBER AND PROFILE OF THE PARTICIPANTS Students/teenagers: Each exchange involves the participation of 9 students/ country, which means an overall number of 18 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 50 other students before each mobility in the school-based pre-exchange activities. Teachers/Adults: There will be teams of 7 teachers in each partner organization, so 21 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 2 English teachers, 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 3 participating teachers/country/exchange will be selected from these teams. RESULTS AND IMPACTS We have assumed the publication of one basic outcome and 4 other intermediate products which will result from studying the topics of interest, presentations and the activities performed before and during the exchanges. All these will be made available to larger audiences on the school websites 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 and improving students physical fitness), 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.
Based on worrying data on sedentary lifestyle, the amount of time spent on computers and mobile phones, unhealthy diet and the increase in obesity among children and young people, we have undertaken a project in which we decided to influence this situation in our schools. We created a partnership of three schools where the situation was very similar. Our main goal was to raise our students' awareness of the causes and consequences of obesity and to show them the way how to improve their own lifestyles. We started from an initial analysis that indicated a lack of regular movement among youngsters in all partner countries and identifying that the weight of almost one fifth of our school pupils is not ideal. We included running, workout and games in our school schedule. We realised many activities to promote healthy eating and at the end of the project period we decided to measure the changes achieved. We divided the theme of healthy lifestyle into three sub-themes, which we focused on in school project activities and on learning and training activities. 1. SK-C1- European cuisine 2. GRC-C2- Unhealthy food versus healthy 3. RO-C3- Benefits of sport and physical activity Pupils learnt about partner countries, compared cuisines, food, lifestyles and popular sports. The program of each learning and training activity was focused on one sport that the pupils practiced under the supervision of coaches and instructors. In Slovakia, participants learnt to ski and team activities were focused on preparing traditional meals. Pupils compared European cuisines and their contribution to longevity. In Greece, students attended athletic training. Teamwork was focused on preparing healthy recipes. In Romania, students played basketball, presented traditional games, and worked in teams on the benefits of sport for human health. Three teachers and nine pupils from each country participated in each learning and training activity. Pupils were selected transparently on the basis of scoring competitions. Each school worked on school project activities with a much larger number of pupils than originally planned 50. The teachers' project teams were represented by the head teacher, the deputy and teachers of English, Physical education, Biology, Computer science and Health care. The division of tasks and participation in mobilities were planned at the very beginning of the project. School activities were focused on students gaining information from many sources: biology lessons, lectures with physiotherapists, fitness coaches, staff of the Institute of Public Health, notice boards, own project work, cooking lessons... The classes worked on projects, comics, presentations, collections and videos of their own recipes. They actively used digital technologies throughout the project. Since the first learning and training activity, strong friendships have developed among the pupils. Their need for language learning has deepened by their need to understand. The project activities supported social inclusion, prevented discrimination and developed pupils' social and organizational skills. Pupils were exposed to many challenges and dealt with many unexpected situations, increasing their flexibility, adaptability and critical thinking. Teachers involved in the project had the chance to improve their communication skills in English. They could share their professional skills and experience with colleagues abroad. They got new tools for their work. Schools have gained a reputation as schools open to Europe and using innovative trends in education. Movement of pupils was very important for fulfilling the main goal of the project. By introducing voluntary running and workout we managed to eliminate the lack of regular activity at all schools. Participation in runs and workouts was initially really huge / about 90% / and this enthusiasm led to an increase in physical performance in most pupils after only a few weeks. However, this trend gradually decreased. In the final measurement it can be stated that on selected samples of pupils, 80% of pupils improved their physical performance. All overweight pupils who accepted the challenge and were running and exercising regularly experienced weight loss. Each school registered several individuals with significant weight loss, which entitles us to express our satisfaction with these results. We have printed Health Guide for Teens as the main final product and 3 brochures as a result of learning and training activities. We promised to make the final products available to as many people as possible through school libraries and publishing them on the Internet. We believe that our pupils will continue to use the acquired knowledge so that the lifestyle of them and their families will be really healthy. We will try to continue in the established physical activities in schools even after the end of the project.