This paper presents a programme of development the life skills made at the final of the training course „Developing the students life skills”, course held in the strategic project „Innovative methods in teacher training to develop students life skills” ID 4713, POSDRU 3/1.3/S/3. The program aims to develop the ability to adopt a healthy lifestyle and it was designed after the model LSDC (Lifeskills Development Cycle): After identifying and selecting the ability of life that we are going to develop, it was presented to the students by model CCAP (behaviors, knowledge, attitudes, performance) and then through a diagram Gantt I have scheduled activities and through the technical sheet I established the details of their conduct (objectives, methods, resources, respondents); it is important to develop the ability of life assessment, which concludes this educational program.
1. Identifying and selecting the ability of life
The target group consists of students of classes VI from „Alexandru Stefulescu” Secondary School from Târgu -Jiu. These 30 students are 12-13 years old and their problem is the absence of specific skills needed for a healthy lifestyle and a better life, their disordered eating, consuming excess sweets, they prefer artificial juices instead of water, they are sedentary (especially girls) and they spend too much time in front of the computer instead of sleep. All these behaviors are potential risk factors that endanger their health in the medium and long term.
To identify these problems I applied several times a game – „Game of health”, where students participate with maximum interest. After each application of game I explained to students the consequences of disorderly lifestyle but, as I expected, the „moralization” had minimal effects on child behavior change. I applied a questionnaire to assess students’ initial knowledge and skills necessary for a healthy lifestyle, the interpretation of which I remember a few things:
- The students have the necessary knowledge to adopt a healthy diet, but do not turn this knowledge into sanitary behavior.
- In relation with the bedtime – 72 % of students fall asleep after 10 p.m. (of which 30 % beyond 12 midnight ) and only 28% before 10 p.m.
- In relation with the physical activity, only 45% do sports every day (most are boys), 36 % three times a week and 19 % are sedentary.
- Students sit at the computer several hours a day – gaming -in rate of 76 % , 19 % one hour and only 5 % use the computer to resolve issues timely.
- We find that at students the food pyramid is inverted from healthy eating pyramid: at the base there are sweets with 30% of the options (chocolate and artificial juices), then follows the fast food rich in fat, with 22%. Fruits are only 3rd with 14% of all options. Follow meat and fish products 12%, bakery products with 11% and dairy products with 11%, too.
- Sweets are consumed daily by 34 % of students in quantities between 50 and 100 grams, 42% of students consumes between 100-150 grams, and 24 % of students consumed more than 150 grams of sweets daily. Time of day when there are consumed many sweets is in breaks at school (42 %), then in the morning (34 %) and in the evening (24%).
- Sweetened juices are consumed by 37 % of students in amounts between 1 and 2 liters per day. 55 % of students consume sweetened juices in amounts between 0.5 and 1 liter daily. Only 8% of students drink only water.
- Products high in fat, as fast- food, are consumed daily by 62 % of students and only 38 % eat cooked food.
In the next step I applied the parents a questionnaire in order to identify behaviors related to lifestyle, knowing that most times we find a wrong family tradition about nutrition, physical movement and rest. Interpretation of the survey confirmed that the most families of students in the target group have no concern for physical movement, to respect the normal rhythm of work and rest, to attract children in other activities that reduce the time spent on computer games.
The families that ask the questionnaire consume artificial juices and sausages very often and rarely prepare fish.
The interpreting results of the two questionnaires were presented to children and parents in a joint meeting and we all decided to start a program to form a healthy lifestyle because it meets the needs of pupils competent in the target group. Surprising was that at this stage I noticed skepticism of parents and children optimism regarding the success of this program. Moreover, we considered the possibility of educating parents from children.
The project is structured in four months (February -May) with conducting bimonthly activities, within hours of counseling and school – component „Quality lifestyle ” – activities organized in a safe environment.
2. Presentation of ability life to the children (CCAP model)
Table 1. Ability of life: Adoption of a healthy lifestyle
|Behaviors (to do)||Knowledge (to know)||Attitudes (to manifest an attitude)||Performance (to demonstrate)|
|1.The student plays sports
2.The student eats healthy
3.The student avoids artificial juices
4.The student sleeps enough
|He knows the benefits of sport on health.
He knows which are the healthy food groups: grains, fruits, vegetables, chicken, fish, dairy.
He knows the harmful effects of consumption of Coca-Cola.
He knows the positive effects of observing hours of rest.
|He shows interest in sports activities.
He strives to replace sweets with fruits and meats with chicken and fish.
He shows interest in water consumption at the expense of artificial juices.
He knows the harmful effects of computer and TV at the expense of sleep.
|He manages to make at least one hour of sport per day. She went to a sports club.
He has three meals a day at fixed times and two snacks of fruit. He eats cereals with milk, fish and vegetables.
He drinks 2 liters of water daily.
He falls asleep before 10 p.m., he reduces the time for the computer and TV.
3. Developing the ability of life
3.1. Table 2. Gantt chart
3.2. Table 3. Technical sheet of activities
The student play sports
“Who stops you?”
“Mens sana in corpore sano”
Introducing comparative two films that illustrate the importance of movement for health at any age
“I choose what is right for me”
“We go to the mountains”
Scheduling a two-day trip to the mountains with the whole class
Association in pairs
Disclosure in the large group
Lesson – trip
|Material distributed “Who stops you?” photocopied and cut, sheets of paper, biros
Providing the necessary conditions for developing the trip
The student eats healthy
“Healthy eating pyramid”
“Let’s eat healthy!”
Watch Power Point presentations about healthy eating and poster competition
Work in small groups
|Sheets with healthy eating pyramid
The student avoids artificial juices
“Water or Coca-Cola?”
Watch some power point presentations about the adverse effects of artificial juices followed by a debate.
|Power point presentation
The student sleeps enough
“Computer or sleep?”
The students will perform in pairs flyers and/ or posters suggesting the harmful effects of computer addiction to the detriment of sleep
Presentation of the flyers/ posters made
Panel for the exhibition
Students from school
4. The ability to develop life
4.1. The initial assessment had as objective to establish the level of „start” for the ability to adopt a healthy and responsible lifestyle. In this first stage of evaluation I used the game, the questionnaire for students and parents. The results of this assessment were statistically presented to the students and parents in order to raise their level of motivation for involvement in the program.
4.2. The formative assessment was made in the mid unfolding program (after two months of activity at the end of March), it was reported in the final set goals and seek to ascertain to what extent the implementation of the program is in the specified project. At this stage I used the game as assessment methods and reflective journal. The formative assessment results were again presented to the students and parents, and this stimulated the level of involvement for our community education program.
4.3. The final assessment program was designed to the end of the program of development life ability (in late May) and aims to establish to what extent the program has achieved its objectives: the optimal use of resources and improvement of students behavior by adopting healthy elections as a result of the activities designed to set quality standards.
a) Evaluation of reactions – at this stage I applied a questionnaire of testing the satisfaction of program participants (students and parents) for which I used semi-objective items with open response, hoping that we can get a high quality responses that may contribute to improvement project.
b) Evaluation of behavior – I used the method of systematic observation of children’s behavior in the target group, applying as a tool for self – assessment check list.
4.4. Impact assessment – it is applied in 3 months after completion the program (September) by comparative analysis of the beneficiaries behaviors compared with students from a parallel class who were not included in the target group. This stage of the evaluation also seeks to determine the extent to which the program produced positive spillover effects on the families of the target group; for this purpose I used reflective journal for parents.
1. Decree MPS no.1563/2008 approving the list of no recommended foods for pre-school and pupils and the principles that underlie a healthy diet for children and adolescents
2. Bucur, Gh. E., Popescu O., (1999) – Education for health in school, Fiat Lux publishing house, Bucharest
3. The National Program for education for health in Romanian school (2004) – Ministry of education and research and Ministry of Health – Training of trainers, Predeal