Yesterday, representatives of the South Moravian Region, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Sports Studies of Masaryk University, the Masaryk Oncology Institute, Brno University Hospital and the Czech School Inspectorate signed a memorandum of cooperation on the Active School project. The aim of the project, which will launch in its pilot stage this autumn, is to promote a healthier and more active lifestyle among school children.
A team of professionals and students will work on the project in several areas. The project will include health days at schools, preparation of webinars focused on a healthy lifestyle for teachers, parents and pupils, certification of schools which promote physical activity, and a social media campaign that will promote a healthy lifestyle and physical activity.
“In the end, prevention is always cheaper than dealing with the diseases themselves,” said South Moravian governor Jan Grolich. “Therefore, this cooperation between the region, the university, two large health institutions and the school inspectorate makes sense. This year, CZK 3 million will go to the project from the regional budget.”
The essence of the memorandum is the prevention of obesity and associated diseases, and the promotion of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle in primary and secondary schools in the region, as well as the elimination of negative behaviours such as smoking, drinking alcohol or sleep deprivation.
Karel Podzimek, regional councillor for health, said Active Schools is the first project of its kind, on the border between education and healthcare, in the entire Czech Republic.
The implementation of the project is based on the Ministry of Education’s “Pupils and students’ movement support plan 2024-2028”, and the methodological recommendation of the Czech School Inspectorate’s “Active school – Inspiration for the support of pupils’ movement activities”.
“The Active School methodological recommendation is based on an extensive investigation that we carried out in the 2022/2023 school year,” said Tomáš Zatloukal, chief inspector of the Czech School Inspectorate. “Our goal is to provide schools with practical tools and inspiration to support pupils’ physical activities.”
The project team will gradually approach secondary and primary schools in the South Moravian region. In September of this year, it will launch a pilot project of ‘health days’ at schools, and an educational seminar with webinars for teaching staff, parents and their children.
“According to the Ministry of Health, more than a fifth of children between the ages of 11 and 15 are overweight or obese, and year-on-year data show a constantly increasing number of children with obesity,” said Ivo Rovný, director of the Brno University Hospital. “One of the causes of childhood obesity is a lack of physical activity; without exercise, people of all ages, including children, tend to gain weight, and this is of course associated with a higher risk of developing health problems, not only physical but also mental disorders.”
Marek Svoboda, director of the Masaryk Institute of Oncology, added that, according to estimates from the World Health Organization, “approximately half of all cases of malignant tumours arise from controllable risk factors, or can be detected even before the cancer becomes incurable.”
Among the most serious of these are tobacco use (responsible for up to 30% of cancer deaths), alcohol consumption, and risks related to poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise. Together, these account for up to 25% of deaths. “By focusing on a healthy lifestyle for young people, we want to prevent unnecessary deaths from cancer in the future, and at the same time we believe that young people will be a good example for their parents and those around them,” said Svoboda.
The project is inspired by similar initiatives in Finland. “Scandinavian examples show that investments in health prevention through the promotion of movement in schools are often a cheaper and more effective way to achieve good health and productivity in the population than financing treatment of diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus and hypertension,” said Jan Cacek, dean of the Faculty of Sports Studies at Masaryk University. “The contribution of our faculty will primarily consist in the design and verification of measures to support movement during school hours.”
Decreasing physical activity in children is associated with a worsening condition of the locomotive system, poor posture, and muscle imbalance. “Health problems that arise in childhood are then carried over into adulthood,” said Martin Repko, dean of the MUNI Faculty of Medicine. “The Faculty of Medicine is paying considerable attention to the training of a new generation of future paediatricians, and the upcoming project will significantly support their awareness of necessary prevention and possible early treatment in the form of healthy physical activities.”
