NOUTREE program
It has a digital application developed by Mandoulides Schools, which aims at helping children and parents adopt a healthy balanced diet.
It makes use of gamification and technological possibilities to promote a healthy diet.
Problem
Why does childhood overweight and obesity matter?
- We consume more calories than we burn.
- Greece is ranked among the top 5 European countries in child obesity
- Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of premature death and disability in adulthood.
- Overweight and obese children are more likely to stay obese into adulthood and to develop noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
- The most significant health consequences of childhood overweight and obesity include:
- Cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke)
- Certain types of cancer (endometrial, breast and colon)
- Type 1 and 2 diabetes
- Musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis)
Reasons
The fundamental cause of childhood overweight and obesity is an energy imbalance between calories consumed and calories expended.
- Global increases in childhood overweight and obesity are related to various reasons like:
- A global shift in diet towards increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat and sugars but low in vitamins, minerals and other healthy micronutrients
- A trend towards decreased physical activity levels due to the increasingly sedentary nature of many forms of recreation time, changing modes of transportation, and increasing urbanization.
NOUTREE
has the solution for you…
We work together with our nutritionists, teachers, students, and parents in a partnership.
We leverage human behavior, gamification, and technology to promote healthy eating.
Each month we will reward the healthiest student, the healthiest class, the healthiest grade, and the healthiest grade level.
We give parents a direct window into what their children consume at school.
We reward the healthiest student and class.
How it works
Via the card or wearable used by the children, parents will have access to the platform.
They will credit their children’s profile with money, to get food from the school canteen.
During break, children will scan their cards or their wearable at the school canteens to get food.
Parents will have a detailed overview of their children’s eating habits daily, concerning the following:
Class
Gender
Objectives
Rates of consumption of nutritional components
How to enroll
You have to log into the digital platform my mandoulides, and go to “Useful Links”| Noutree.
Choose the “Active” status for each of your children on the home page of the application.
The program is free during the first year of its operation as well as the card (for high school students) or the wearable (for elementary students).
In the event of loss of wearable, there is an extra charge of 5€ for its replacement.
Eating Healthily at Mandoulides Schools
The fast-paced life of students and their families nowadays renders the establishment of a healthy diet hard to achieve.
Mandoulides Schools educates their students and raise parents’ awareness in relation to healthy diet, while implementing the program “Eating Healthily at Mandoulides Schools.”
- Free and healthy breakfast is provided to students of the Day Care Center and Kindergarten.
- The quality and origin of the products offered by the canteens are checked.
- Labels are placed on the products sold by the canteens as well as on the individual meal packages mentioning their calories and nutritional value.
- The lunch menus of the optional catering service are created by specialized dieticians in accordance with the Mediterranean diet.
- Special Educational Programs are organized in order to familiarize students with various issues regarding diet, health and physical activity.
- Students and parents receive information about diet from experts, physical education teachers, athletes and writers of children’s books.
- The physical development and eating habits of our students are monitored by dieticians.
- Visits to food production facilities are scheduled, where students are informed about the processing and storage of raw materials as well as the promotion of products.
- A vegetable garden is maintained on the Kindergarten – Elementary School premises, in order for the students to discover the value of biological products.
Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut
The educational project “Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut” is an international educational challenge, focusing on fitness and nutrition, that encourages students to train like an astronaut.
Overseen by ESERO-UK, the program is supported by the UK Space Agency as well as the European Space Agency and forms part of the program “Eating Healthily at Mandoulides Schools.”
The program is addressed to Kindergarten and all Elementary School students and takes place from March to the end of the school year. During the program, certain actions are conducted according to the children’s age maturity and background knowledge.
Developed in cooperation with space scientists and fitness professionals working directly with astronauts, NASA’s “Train Like an Astronaut” activities are a physical and inquiry-based approach to human health and fitness on Earth and in space.
During the pioneering Mission X challenge, our students participate in physical activities modelled after the real-life physical requirements of humans travelling in space.
Thus, our students, depending on their grade, take part in the following actions:
- What’s your space height (calculation of space weight and height)
- Energy of an astronaut (compilation of natural food lists that can guarantee the energy an astronaut needs)
- Reduced gravity, Low fat (distinguishing the harmful fat ingredients included in food products we consume every day)
- Taste in space (drawing a diagram of the human tongue, demonstrating how different senses can affect our taste)
What is more, our students are involved in the following fitness activities:
- Agility astro course
- Base station walkback
- Build an astronaut core
- Explore and discover
- Do a spacewalk
- Climb a Martian mountain
- Crew training
- Jump for the moon
Through this adventurous journey to the amazing world of space, students are not only informed about fitness and healthy eating, but they are also enabled to become the next generation of fitness explorers.
