Studying the Healthy Primary School of the Future

In 2015, four primary schools in the Parkstad Limburg region embarked on the Healthy Primary School of the Future programme. Their goal was to become schools that don’t just educate children, but also teach them how to live healthy lives. All four so-called intervention schools introduced longer school days with more physical, social and cultural activities. Two of the schools also introduced a daily healthy lunch. Maastricht University studied the effects of the programme for four years, obtaining promising results. “The children have more energy and behave more socially”, says project leader Onno van Schayck, professor at CAPHRI.

The study is a good example of close collaboration between researchers and partners in the region, which began with a programme to restructure the school day. To realise this idea, local educational board Movare – of which the four schools participating in the Healthy Primary School of the Future programme are members – worked together with Maastricht University, the Living Lab Public Health Limburg, the South Limburg Public Health Service, and two childcare organisations. They obtained support from several organisations, including the municipalities of Landgraaf and Brunssum and local social organisations, to implement the programme.

Measurements

The study, which was co-funded by the Province of Limburg, focused on determining the effects of the Healthy Primary School of the Future programme. To this end, researchers measured the children’s weight and height and assessed their dietary and physical activity behaviours. They took baseline measurements during one week before the start of the programme. Measurement weeks were subsequently held once every year. The last one was held in 2019. Postdoctoral researcher Maartje Willeboordse coordinated these weeks. “It was a lot of fun, but also very hard work. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without the cooperation of the schools. They were so flexible. I think it’s important for us researchers to realise how valuable that is.”

Results

Measurement weeks were also held at the four control schools that didn’t introduce any changes during this time. After four years, the researchers compared the results of these control schools with those of the intervention schools. “The effects of the programme were greatest in schools that had introduced both a daily healthy lunch and more exercise. Pupils there developed different, healthier eating habits – which makes sense, as they were offered healthy food choices. But I think it’s quite remarkable that we could see the effects of this in their BMI scores after already one year. Similar studies didn’t show such clear results after one year”, says postdoctoral researcher Nina Bartelink. Pupils in the intervention schools had slightly lower Body Mass Index scores (BMI: a person’s weight in relation to their height), whereas pupils in the control schools clearly had higher BMI scores. “This is shocking”, says Onno van Schayck. “I’m so glad we were able to reverse that trend in the intervention schools.”