The DIPHE Project
According to WHO Europe, around one-third of 11-year-olds are overweight or obese. Over 60% of children who are overweight before puberty will be overweight in early adulthood, and 80% of adolescents who are obese will continue into adulthood with severe weight problems.
This shows not only that serious lifestyle diseases such as overweight and
obesity are commonplace in Europe, but are also highly likely to carry a lasting legacy from an early age which is extremely difficult to halt.
Children and young people with mobility limitations and learning disabilities are at greatest risk for obesity. Since COVID-19 is reported to be especially harmful to people with a BMI above 25, inclusivity must constitute a critical element to a solution.
Behaviour patterns are established during childhood that affect short and long-term health. DIPHE aims to engage children as early as possible in Inclusive Health-Enhancing Physical
Activity (IHEPA), Physical Education (PE) and Health Education (HE).
In spite of this, PE is not fully embedded in EU curricula and 75% of schools in Europe say that the prescribed number of PE classes per week has been reduced because of COVID-19.
HE is equally important to improving the overall health of young children, yet does not exist in school curricula in Europe.
The rapid transition of education into digital contexts in light of COVID-19 has left many teachers ill-equipped and ill-prepared to facilitate digital learning sessions. This transition has also impacted particularly strongly on learners with disabilities, and inclusive digital education has never been more crucial to their support in education.
Digital Inclusive Physical and Health Education is a course that will educate teachers in primary and lower secondary school settings on how to digitally facilitate IPHE.
For more information visit the corresponding Erasmus+ webpage.