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For The Record

PROVINCE LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL HEALTH INITIATIVES

April 9, 2009
Ministry of Education
 

Letters to the Editor

The Province has implemented a broad strategy that includes nutrition and physical activity to encourage children to be more physically active and to make healthy choices. B.C.’s Healthy Schools initiative builds on the work being done by ActNow BC, a provincial initiative aimed at reducing preventable chronic disease by encouraging people to make choices to get moving and get healthier. Here are the facts:

Active and Healthier Living

  • Effective September 2008, all K-9 students are required to complete at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day and Grades 10-12 are required to complete at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week.
  • All B.C. public schools are required to eliminate the sale of unhealthy food and beverage items in schools. This includes vending machines, school stores, cafeteria sales and fundraisers that sell such foods to students.
  • Junk food was removed from all public elementary schools in January 2008 and from all B.C. middle and secondary schools in September 2008.
  • All public schools are now required to implement the Guidelines for Food and Beverage Sales in B.C. Schools.
  • The School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program was launched in 2005 and now serves 220,000 students in 739 schools across the province. Under the program, B.C.-grown fruit and veggie snacks are sent to participating schools twice per week every other week for 14 weeks of the school year.
  • Now in its third year with 110 member schools, the Healthy Schools Network is a voluntary organization of public and independent schools modelling a comprehensive approach to school health.

Anaphylaxis Protection

  • In September 2007, the Ministry of Education issued the Anaphylaxis Protection Order, requiring all B.C. school districts to develop and implement anaphylaxis policies that meet the provincial standards outlined in the B.C. Anaphylactic and Child Safety Framework.

Smoke-Free Schools

  • In September 2007, the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport passed legislation requiring all public and private B.C. schools to implement smoke-free grounds, for all tobacco products.
  • The Ministries of Education and Healthy Living and Sport have worked collaboratively to develop additional tools to support school districts in meeting their obligations under this new legislation. These supports include strategies for implementing a tobacco-free school grounds policy, data on tobacco use among youth and tobacco cessation resources. To access these tools, please visit www.health.gov.bc.ca/tobacco/schools.html.

Playgrounds

  • Government has created more than $8.5 million in grant programs to support the construction or replacement of playgrounds across BC.
  • With our partners, the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils and the Rick Hansen Foundation, 309 elementary and middle schools and 10 community organizations have received funding for new or refurbished playgrounds since 2007.

Crystal Meth Strategy

  • The Ministry of Education contributed $1 million to the B.C. Crystal Methamphetamine Strategy to develop a school-based awareness component that includes;
    • Classroom lessons and resources to help students make healthy and informed decisions,
    • Teacher resources to support classroom lessons,
    • A guide for parents providing information to help parents talk to their children about the harms associated with crystal methamphetamine and other substance use; and,
    • An interactive website www.no2meth.ca, featuring games, activities, and information on the effects and dangers associated with the use of crystal methamphetamine.
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Letters to the Editor

April 1, 2009
Letters to the Editor
DAILY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INITIATIVE ENCOURAGES HEALTHY LIFESTYLES
By Shirley Bond
Minister of Education and Deputy Premier
Submitted: Prince George Citizen
Status: Published April 3, 2009
I'd like to respond to a recent letter by Matt Pearce of the Prince George District Teachers' Association regarding our government's Daily Physical Activity initiative in British Columbia schools. More than one in four B.C. school children is overweight or obese. This may be the first generation of children to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. For the future of our province, this government decided to act. [Read More]

October 10, 2008
Letter to the Editor
HEALTHY SCHOOLS INITIATIVE REINFORCED
By Shirley Bond
Minister of Education and Deputy Premier
Submitted: Times Colonist
Status: N/A
I would like to add some thoughts to an interesting letter written by a Grade 12 Saanich student that appeared recently in your newspaper. [Read More]

October 2, 2008
Letter to the Editor
FLEXIBILITY IN DPA REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED
By Shirley Bond
Minister of Education and Deputy Premier
Submitted: Prince George Citizen
Status: N/A
I’d like to respond to a recent article that appeared in your newspaper regarding our government’s Daily Physical Activity initiative in British Columbia schools. [Read More]

September 26, 2008
Letter to the Editor
DPA INITIATIVE CLARIFIED AND REINFORCED
By Shirley Bond
Minister of Education and Deputy Premier
Submitted: Prince George Citizen
Status: Published September 29, 2008
I’d like to clarify some misconceptions that may have arisen as a result of a recent article that appeared in your newspaper regarding our government’s Daily Physical Activity initiative in British Columbia schools. [Read More]