These global standards will support early child education and care providers in providing healthy foods and beverages and ensuring young children are sufficiently physically active, avoid excess sedentary time and get enough sleep whilst attending childcare and education facilities. These standards will support the implementation of the WHO guidelines on physical activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours for children under 5 years of age. They are informed by a review of the evidence and current standards and best practices and focus on detailing standards that can be applied in low- and middle income, as well as for high income settings. The target audience will be academics/researchers, development agencies, health workers, NGOs and policy makers.
Edited by Donna Pendergast and Susanne Garvis, this new edition of Teaching Early Years provides a comprehensive overview of and introduction to educating children from birth to eight years. Structured around the key priorities for early childhood education and care – curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment – this book supports readers to develop and enhance their knowledge and understanding of the essential theory, scholarship, and practical applications. This second edition has been thoroughly revised to reflect the significant innovation and development across the sector, ensuring that coverage of content, the latest research, and references to curricula and professional standards are up to date and relevant to today’s pre- and in-service educators. The new edition includes a greater focus on a number of areas compared to the first edition, including: Sustainability education Health and nutrition Innovative and age-appropriate pedagogies Increased coverage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives New understandings of the early years learner. Each chapter provides case studies, examples from practice, chapter summaries and reflection questions, encouraging the reader to engage more deeply with the key concepts and learning points. Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners, Teaching Early Years provides the specialist knowledge and preparation required for early years educators, in all learning environments, to deliver exceptional education and care to all children in the early years.
This book addresses the origins, determinants and magnitude of the global problem of sedentary behaviour, along with concise yet in-depth solutions for tackling it. As a consequence of major technological advances in modern society, many people find themselves in environments characterized by prolonged sedentary behaviour. Building on the contributions of leading experts in the field, the new edition of this book presents updated knowledge about sedentary behaviour, its medical and public health significance, its correlates and determinants, measurement techniques, and recommendations for addressing this behaviour at the individual, community, environmental, and policy level. The book encompasses current research linking the COVID-19 pandemic to increased levels of sedentary behavior, and it covers global and planetary health aspects of sedentary behavior, highlighting sustainable development goals such as health and well-being for all. Applying a cross-disciplinary methodology, the book avoids considering physical activity and sedentary behavior as a single continuum, which potentially hampers progress in confronting widespread levels of sedentariness. Rather, the book helps readers better understand how sedentary and physically active behavior co-occur and how the two behaviours have distinct contributing factors. Building on the contributions of distinguished international experts in the field, this thorough resource is a valuable asset and challenges professionals, researchers, students, and practitioners alike to adopt new strategies and expand their reach.
An advocacy brief calling for stronger multisectoral action to promote and enable more physical activity through provision of supportive environments, accessible programmes and sustained communication campaigns in all communities. It provides global guidance on priority actions and is suitable for use by advocates, government and non-government organizations.
Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.
