. . . providing more opportunities for more children to make healthy choices more often

Action Schools! BC is a best practices model designed to assist schools in creating individualized action plans to promote healthy living.

ACTION SCHOOLS! BC:

• contributes to the health of children by integrating physical activity and healthy eating messages into the fabric of the school community, with the goal of providing children with a foundation for life-long healthy living.
   

• provides a framework for action, building on best practices and existing resources within the school community, targeting six Action Zones.
   

• promotes the creation of inclusive and diverse physical activity and healthy eating opportunities throughout the school day, and supports school initiatives to make healthy choices the easy choices for children.
   

• is a source of inspiration and practical resources including action ideas, program recommendations, success stories, downloadable resources and program information, and links to healthy living resources from British Columbia and across Canada.
   

• utilizes existing relationships and generates new partnerships among teachers, school administrators, families, and community practitioners.
   

• is based on a comprehensive evidenced-based health outcome evaluation that proved the model was effective at increasing the physical activity level of students, and contributed to improvements in their bone health, heart health, dietary requirement awareness, and academic performance (McKay, H.A., 2004).
   

• Healthy Eating pilot demonstrated that the initiative was effective at changing the pattern of vegetable and fruit consumption of school children in Grades 4 to 7 (Day, Strange, & Naylor, 2007).