The Limburg ‘Healthy Primary School of the Future’ is given new priority by State Secretary Paul Blokhuis now that the corona epidemic has demonstrated the importance of resilience.
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Many patients in the ICU appear to have illnesses due to an unhealthy lifestyle, such as obesity or type 2 diabetes.
Resilience is important
State Secretary Blokhuis of Health, Welfare and Sport calls the Healthy Primary School an excellent way to invest in prevention. “Resilience is very important. And how do you achieve that? By making healthy choices easier. This happens with this Limburg initiative. Healthy lunches and more exercise.”
Research
The scientific basis for the connection between Covid-19 and lifestyle was shown in a publication by TNO and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). The metabolism is disrupted in obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If that lasts for a long time, it can lead to chronic inflammation, which can overload the immune system. That makes the immune system vulnerable to viruses such as Covid-19.
“It is especially important in corona times to pay attention to lifestyle,” says Paul Blokhuis in Heerlen. “Because it is important that people are resilient. People who are overweight or have respiratory problems can have extra difficulties at this time.”
Limburg initiative
The Healthy Primary School of the Future is an initiative to investigate whether children in the Eastern Mining Region feel better when they receive better nutrition and more exercise at school. Lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and lung diseases are much more common in Parkstad than the average in the Netherlands.
To break that circle, education foundation Movare, the GGD Zuid Limburg, Maastricht University, Maastricht University Medical Center joined forces. In a number of schools in the region, children receive a healthy breakfast and lunch every day, and they play more indoors and outdoors. The first results of the project are positive. A symposium will be held in Venlo on 20 September.
