Challenges and Achievements

The Foundation’s flagship program is a physical activity challenge for primary school children, called the Active Kids Challenge.

Children getting ready to participate in the Active Kids Challenge for 2010.

It’s a 10 week program designed to motivate as many students as possible to be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.
 
The Challenge is offered to all ACT primary schools during term 3 each year. Unique health messages are delivered each week of the program, with reward incentives offered to schools that achieve participation outcomes.

Many schools were quick to take up the offer when it began in 2008. Since then, participation has increased remarkably, pushed along by a strong and consistent marketing program.

There is still a lot to do, but great progress has been made so far, as demonstrated by the following achievements:

• Schools participating in the Challenge increased from 31 schools in 2008 to 74 schools in 2011, with 65,500 students participating in this period;
• In 2011 alone, 22,500 children aged 5-12 years were encouraged to be physically active for at least 60 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 10 weeks;
• $200,000 in school equipment vouchers has been granted to participating schools during the three years of the Challenge. This represents 72% of the available budget of the Foundation.
• The cost of the program has been maintained at a mere $1.28/week for each participant.

As strong as these achievements are, they are just a beginning. The Foundation will not rest in marketing the Challenge program until all primary schools in the ACT are registered as participants. We welcome any support from others to help us achieve this goal. 

---

A Charter for Active, Healthy Kids                                                          

For the Foundation to successfully achieve its vision of all children in the ACT being more physically active on a daily basis, there needs to be a Charter for Active, Healthy Kids.

We have a vision for all children in the ACT being more physically active on a daily basis

Such a Charter is on its way. Firstly, we are drawing together a passionate collective of government leadership, corporate connections and community energy to be focused on fighting childhood inactivity and obesity. This group will help us develop a charter that is meaningful to our local cause, and which will provide a structure and direction for more effectively meeting the challenges ahead.

The Charter will also declare our continued commitment to upholding the values of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ‘that all children and young people have the right to relax and play, and join in a wide range of activities’.