A positive attitude to health starts at a young age. We developed an educational program for children on health and entrepreneurship, together with Stichting Jong Ondernemen. In Amsterdam, this was combined with a contest: the Youth4Health Challenge, that was supported by GGD Amsterdam and took place in NEMO.

The health situation

The younger you become familiar with certain behaviors, preferably the good ones, the larger the chance you will stick to them in the future. Healthy behavior, including eating well and physical activity, is one of the most valuable assets one can acquire in life. However, many children nowadays suffer from overweight and growing health issues, due to a lack of sports, bad nutrition or low level of activities.

The challenge

Schools are an excellent place to reach out to children. In school, children acquire knowledge and start learning to work together, but health is not included in the currilucum. Creating a special program that not only communicates the importance of health but also stimulates to think about ways to achieve this, contributes to both education as health.

The purpose of the project

The Youth4Health Challenge makes children reflect on their own attitude towards health and behavior and stimulates them to come with solutions based on technology. The participants are requested to work in teams and challenge one another with original ideas, which is at the basis of entrepreneurship.

What is ahti’s role?

Ahti initiated the program and developed the course together with Stichting Jong Ondernemen, a foundation that stimulates young entrepreneurs. Ahti contributed to the content of the school kit, reached out to all higher classes of the primary schools in Amsterdam. The school kit was sent to all primary schools in The Netherlands. In Amsterdam, the closing of the program was a real challenge that took place in NEMO.

Summary

Name: Youth4Health Challenge
Status of ahti’s role: 2016 completed
Countries: the Netherlands
Partners: Stichting Jong Ondernemen and GGD Amsterdam