Students dance their way to health
For our Bio-Med Summer School Students, engagement with LENScience didn’t stop when university started. Rather, students are now using dance and food to promote healthy lifestyles in their communities.
Students were asked to create meaningful campaigns that would reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases in their communities as part of their summer school experience. The Friedlander Foundation, Gravida and the Liggins Institute are working with three groups to roll out their campaigns.
Polyjam combines zumba-like aerobics classes with a healthy breakfast, all with a great South Pacific twist. Other summer school participants are working to teach school students and their families delicious and healthy recipes in order to improve diet and nutrition, through a project they're calling Ka Pai Kai.
Ka Pai Kai will be rolled out in Onehunga High School while PolyJam is starting up at Auckland Girls' Grammar School.
"Both projects help empower students, making them agents of change. Students will learn more about nutrition and exercise and how it links with their overall health," said LENScience Research Assistant Rosabel Tan.
The Bio-Med Summer School programme and the engagement with communities has been made possible by the generous donations of the Friedlander Foundation and Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development. For more information about the programme, please email the LENScience Director Jacquie Bay.
