On March 1st, 2011, PRAIS Foundation has officially launched, for a period of 5 years, the National Movement “I’m living healthy too!” – SETS, aiming at preventing juvenile obesity among children under 12 years of age and promoting a healthy lifestyle among families.
For the first time, this issue is holistically approached within the Scientific Council of SETS Movement, which gathers together renowned medical doctors, educators, psychologists and Olympic athletes.
Specialised articles show that 1 out of 7 children within the European Union are overweight or obese. The statistics are worrying: these children will have a precarious health, with a low quality of life. In Romania, the incidence of obesity is under 10%, while the level of physical activities is much below the European average: 19% of Romanians exercise regularly compared to the European average of 27%.
Within this context, the Romanian movement is aligned to the methodologies of the European programmes under “European Epode Network” – EEN, a member of which it is, as of March. These projects are developed in 4 EU countries: France, Spain, Belgium, Greece, in 275 towns, with over 4,000,000 children involved, as well as in Mexico.
The target of the movement I’m living healthy too! – SETS for this school year is 50,000 primary school pupils, aged between 9 and 12 from 206 schools in Bucharest, 1,300 teachers, 200,000 parents and relatives. Over the next 5 years, the movement targets 250,000 pupils, 6,000 teachers and 1,000,000 family members, to which over 3 million citizens, including children, will be added, by means of the website www.sets.ro and public communication.
All pupils will receive an educational booklet free-of-charge – 2 different volumes edited for 2 school years. The booklet promotes the benefits of daily physical exercises and balanced nutrition, Olympic sports – values and role-models. The teachers and parents will be informed directly, while open lessons provided by opinion leaders will be organised in schools.
„SETS Clubs – Sports and Entertainment” are a new concept for the playful activation of school children. These will be voluntarily organised by children, under the teachers’ coordination, and thousands of pupils will be mobilised for fun, after-school physical activities.
The website www.sets.ro will be a major communication platform to the general public, including two sections, for parents and children, video and written interviews with key figures, as well as vast information about nutrition, sports, balanced lifestyle. Online competitions and games will animate and inform the pupils.
Each year, the SETS movement will award the most active allies of the movement: members of the Scientific Council, journalists, mayoralties, schools, SETS school clubs, teachers, associations/companies.
The assessment of the movement’s impact will be made based on questionnaires filled in by pupils, parents, teachers, while the results will be made public.