The cardiovascular health of NSW primary school children is being improved by a program developed at the University of Newcastle.
iPLAY gives generalist teachers key information about physical activity, with lesson plans aimed to address the low 1 in 5 rate of Australian children meeting national daily activity guidelines.
Co-creator of the iPLAY program, UoN's Professor David Lubans, says the online tool is proving hugely successful.
"It's based on the Scores program, which was a multi-component intervention designed at the University of Newcastle and evaluated in 460 students," he explained.
"We saw really good improvements," Professor Lubans continued, "about 20% better in cardiorespiratory fitness, so now we're trying to do that on a larger scale with a web-based delivery to really maximise its dissemination and impact."
It's now been rolled out to 20,000 students in 83 state schools.
Any schools or teachers who'd like to know more about the program, which is accredited by the NSW Education Standards Authority, should register their interest at: https://iplay.org.au/
