The response to the COVID-19 pandemic: With hindsight what lessons can we learn?

The purpose of this paper is to put forward some evidence-based lessons that can be learned from how to respond to a Pandemic that relate to healthy living behaviours (HLB). A 4-step methodology was followed to conduct a narrative review of the literature and to present a professional practice vignette. The narrative review identified 8 lessons: 1) peer review; 2) historical perspectives; 3) investing in resilience and protection; 4) unintended consequences; 5) protecting physical activity; 6) school closures; 7) mental health; and 8) obesity. As in all probability there will be another Pandemic, it is important that the lessons learned over the last three years in relation to HLB are acted upon. Whilst there will not always be a consensus on what to emphasise, it is important that many evidence-based positions are presented. The authors of this paper recognise that this work is a starting point and that the lessons presented here will need to be revisited as new evidence becomes available.

Where are we now? The intersection of healthy living medicine and social justice within our school systems.

Alongside the tensions brought forth by the pandemic, such as health and safety concerns from transmission and economic insecurity, there was also a rise in racial and social tension, bringing issues of equity and justice to the forefront. Consequently, there has been a call for reform and an urgency for change in legal, political, economic, and healthcare spheres. Change only occurs through change, with a pivotal point to target the beginning stages in life which will have a greater likelihood to subsist throughout the lifecourse. The crossroads of healthy living medicine (HLM) and education are an appropriate context for necessary change. If healthy living medicine is to embody the ideals of social justice, then people need equal access to resources of well-being - physical, social, and emotional - in their school systems. This paper examines the current intersection of health and social justice within the school systems in the United States. It is both a critique of how school systems have not yet provided such an intersection and highlight those efforts that have proven valuable and successful in providing HLM resources to populations that are historically under-resourced and under-served. Ultimately, this paper looks to provide a path forward, providing ideas for sustainable, feasible, actionable change in school systems K-12 and in higher education.

Moving more and sitting less in schools: What's the next step?

Schools serve as the ideal location for implementing interventions to increase physical activity (PA) as children spend most of their day in the school setting. As adolescents become more and more sedentary and obesity statistics become more dire, efforts to increase physical literacy and PA should be heightened. Physical literacy is the ability for a child to understand the movement of their body and how it can be manipulated to increase activity for recreation or sports movement. When physical literacy is paired with school-based multi-component programs, children are more likely to make a behavior change. As educators know, children are more likely to make a behavior change when mastery of content is achieved, and the lesson is tailored to their needs. Even small changes, like moving a little more or adding an additional serving of vegetables to the diet, can make a profound impact. In the current review we discuss: 1) the state of PA within school systems; 2) provide a rationale for why school systems fail to meet said guidelines; and 3) suggest how guidelines can eventually be achieved through the promotion of physical literacy and effective school-based multi component programs.

The Importance of School-based Healthy Living Initiatives: Introducing the Health and Wellness Academy Concept.

Over the last 15 years, the number of school and community based health-intervention programs in the United States has grown. Many of these programs aim to prevent non-communicable chronic disease diagnoses (e.g., obesity, cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes). The Department of Physical Therapy in the College of Applied Health Sciences (CAHS) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) created a school-based wellness program (SBWP) that focuses on nutrition and physical activity, providing tailored experiences that motivate adolescents to make healthier lifestyle choices. The SBWP began as a camp for children in the surrounding neighborhoods and implemented healthy living practices utilizing students from Departments in the CAHS. From this camp, the Health and Wellness Academy (HWA) evolved. This paper provides a review of school-based initiatives and introduces the UIC HWA, an innovative and reproducible approach that can bring positive environmental change by improving health outcomes for children and their families.