engleski

Healthy Living

In order to halt the growing trend of morbidity and mor-tality rates of non-communicable diseases, the Ministry of Health launched a public health program "Healthy Liv-ing" back in 2002. Taking into account the priorities of the Croatian National Health Development Strategy 2012 – 2020 and the priorities of the Public Health Strategic Plan 2013 – 2015, the Croatian Institute of Public Health developed a comprehensive Health Promotion Program "Healthy Living". In 2015, the Government of the Republic of Croatia declared the program “Healthy Living” as National Health Promotion Program. The implementa-tion of the Program is multisectorial. It links non-govern-mental organizations, local communities, health and gov- ernmental institutions, and is supported by nine ministries and other key governmental agencies and organizations. Starting from December 2016, Program activities are co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund.The overarching goals of this program are to inform, educate and sensitize Croatian citizens of all age groups, from children, adolescents, adults and elderly, about ade-quate physical, mental and sexual health in order to pre-vent obesity and provide healthier lifestyles for all.The “Healthy Living” National Program consists of five components: “Health Education”, “Health and Physical Activity”, “Health and Nutrition”, “Health and the Work-place” and “Health and the Environment”. Through the program, health promotion activities are implemented at all levels and in all environments, working and non-work-ing hours. The first component, “Health Education”, includes healthy nutrition and physical activity education of schoolchildren, teachers and staff with the goal of child-hood overweight and obesity prevention. Additionally, in order to provide healthy meals in all elementary schools in the Republic of Croatia, 37 weekly school menus for 4 seasons were made and distributed to schools. The promotion of physical activity in schools is achieved by “Daily 10 minutes exercise plan for children” which helps teachers to perform daily physical exercises with children, and by the “Polygon for the physical activity of elementary school children”, the set of equipment which enables schools with no gym or sports hall to carry out physical education curriculum. This component also in-cludes education of school staff in mental health and edu-cation of high-school students in sexual and reproductive health and responsible sexual behavior. Second, “Health and Physical Activity” component is directed to all age groups with a focus on families and persons of older age. The main activity, “Walking towards Health”, introduces walking as the most suitable physical activity for people of all ages. Third component, “Health and Nutrition”, in-troduces easy-to-understand labelling of the products with the highest nutritional standards to enable consumers to make healthier choices. Main activity of the fourth com-ponent, “Health and the Workplace”, is “Health-friendly Company” that focuses on companies, promotes health at the workplace and expresses positive health care for employees. Lastly, fifth component, “Health and the envi-ronment”, by the implementation of activity “Volunteers in parks” promotes healthy lifestyles, prosocial behaviour and preservation of community environment through the organization of free time and intergenerational activities outdoors, in city parks and children’s playgrounds.

healthy living ; health promotion ; health education ; physical activity ; nutrition ; workplace ; environment

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