Taipei, Nov. 13 (CNA) School is the best place to teach children the importance of healthy lifestyle habits, making the idea of "health-promoting schools" (HPS) a global trend right now, a group of health experts said Monday.
Health promotion at school is one of the most effective ways for children to learn about making the right choices, said Carmen Aldinger, project director of Health and Human Development Global Programs at the U.S. Education Development Center, during the opening ceremony of the first Asia-Pacific International Conference on HPS.
The concept of promoting public health has undergone dramatic changes since the World Health Organization's (WHO) declaration in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1997, said Hsiao Mei-ling, director of the Bureau of Health Promotion under the Department of Health (DOH).
The focus shifted from promoting personal health to a "setting approach," such as health-promoting activities in schools, offices and communities, Hsiao said.
Taiwan is doing well in this regard, she said, as the Ministry of Education began to push for the HPS program in 2001 and later began cooperating with the DOH. The number of health-promoting schools in Taiwan went from 48 in 2004 to 318 in 2005, then 516 in 2006.
The HPS program seeks to establish a network to share health education resources on issues such as school health policy, health services, personal health skills, the campus physical environment and building community relationships.
The conference is being held in Taipei Nov. 13- 16 with the objectives of presenting results from implementing the HPS model in Taiwan and sharing and exchanging experiences on developing HPS.
Local experts have been invited to participate in the 4-day symposium, as well as experts from the U.S., Japan, Australia and Singapore.