Bo van Engelen (B.H.W.)
Bo van Engelen is a PhD candidate whose research focuses on the educational impact of innovative school-based health promotion initiatives. She examines learning outcomes within the Healthy Primary School of the Future, the Green Healthy Primary School of the Future, and the monitoring programme for the Healthy Primary School of the Future in North Limburg. Her work bridges health and education, providing evidence on how integrated health approaches can support children’s wellbeing and academic development.
Expertises
The goal of the Healthy Elementary School of the Future (GBT) is to provide children with a structured daily routine with adequate time for education, sports, exercise, play and attention to healthy eating so that they experience better physical, emotional and intellectual growth. The GBT project clearly shows that the younger you start teaching a healthy lifestyle, the more effect it has in the longer term. Moreover, children take the healthy behavior home with them, thus bringing about behavioral change in parents.
The premise of the Green Healthy Elementary School of the Future project is the idea that a green school is a valuable rest or habitat for local nature and mitigates the effects of climate change such as extreme heat and precipitation. A natural school grounds offers more variety and challenge for children. It allows them to play and develop in a wide variety of ways. We are investigating whether it also makes the children move more, feel better about themselves, get a healthy BMI and concentrate better in class.