4. Active promotion of home-school collaboration

Parents or caregivers are often imitated by children, who regard them as role models. They exist in the family setting, where children learn and explore new things like they do at school. Therefore, parents should behave properly, encourage and teach their children patiently so that they all live healthily together. Teachers should also act as role models to show their pupils how healthy lifefstyles should be practised.

Schools should refer to nutrition guidelines and resources compiled from reliable sources like the Department of Health, related academic or professional organisations, and then convey the information to parents through student handbooks, school circulars, intranet and bulletin board notices in order to promote the awareness of healthy diet and physical activity. Effective communication ensures home-school collaboration, which creates an ideal learning and living environment and facilitates our children’s healthy diet and regular exercise.

The above are sheer theories. So what would it be like upon their implementation? Let us review the thirty pre-primary institutions that have participated in the StartSmart@school.hk Pilot Project, and see how these pilot schools designed their school-based activities on health topics (‘vegetables’, ‘fruit’, ‘balanced diet’, ‘drink more water’ and ‘regular meal time’) assigned to them!