The FRESH initiative: school health in the context of education for all

Abstract

nsuring that children are healthy and able to learn is an essential component of an effective education system. This is especially relevant to efforts to achieve education for all in the most deprived areas. Increased enrolment with reduced absenteeism and drop-out bring more of the poorest and most disadvantaged children to school, many of whom are girls. It is these children, often the least healthy and most malnourished, who have the most to gain educationally from improved health. School health programmes that are developed as part of community partnerships provide one of the most cost-effective ways to reach school-age youth and the broader community and are a sustainable means of promoting healthy practices. Improving the health and learning of school children through school-based health and nutrition programmes is not a new concept. Many countries have school health programmes, and many agencies have decades of experience. These common experiences suggest an opportunity for concerted action by a partnership of agencies to broaden the scope of school health programmes and to make them more effective. Positive experiences by WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO and the World Bank have suggested that there is a core group of cost-effective activities that can form the basis for intensified and joint action to make schools healthier places for children. These agencies developed a partnership for Focusing Resources on Effective School Healththe FRESH Partnership. This FRESH