Backgrounder

Backgrounder At My Best®

AstraZeneca Canada and Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada) have joined forces to create and champion At My Best®, an exciting children’s wellness program that was successfully piloted in the Peel region from January 2008 to June 2008.

Childhood inactivity and obesity

• Canada has one of the highest childhood obesity rates in the developed world, ranking fifth out of 34 OECD* countries. In 1978,12 per cent of children and adolescents aged 2 to 17 years were overweight and 3 per cent were obese — for a combined overweight/obesity prevalence of 15 per cent. By 2004, 18 per cent were overweight in this age group and 8 per cent were obese — a combined prevalence of 26 per cent. (Healthy Weights for Healthy Kids, 2007)
  * Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international organisation devoted to helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalised economy.
• In 2000, 57 per cent of Canadian children and youth aged five to seventeen years were not sufficiently active to meet international guidelines for optimal growth and development. (PHE Canada website; Craig, Cameron, Storm, Russell & Beaulieu 2001)
• The prevalence of overweight boys and girls in Canada has increased by 92 per cent and 57 per cent respectively in the past 15 years. (PHE Canada website)
• A 2005 study conducted by researchers at Dalhousie University found that school-based healthy living programs were effective in reducing and preventing childhood obesity.

About At My Best®

• At My Best® is a school-based program for children in Kindergarten to Grade 3 that focuses on three key areas of wellness: physical activity, healthy eating and emotional well-being.
• The objective of At My Best™ is to inspire and motivate children (and their families) to make healthier choices today and develop lifelong healthy habits. The ultimate goal of At My Best™ is to help every child thrive.

At My Best® classroom modules and accompanying materials were developed by a team of educators with expertise in physical education, nutrition, health promotion and children’s emotional wellness for educators.

• At My Best® is a comprehensive toolkit that includes a range of teaching support materials and equipment, including a music CD, a complementary storybook, interactive task cards, posters, take home materials, and physical education equipment.
• At My Best® includes an important take-home component. Each lesson plan includes suggestions on activities each student can do at home with family members, such as practicing a fun physical activity, preparing a special family meal, or reflecting on special moments through the student’s take home journal.
• The At My Best® classroom modules also include activities to support teachers in delivering Daily Physical Activity (DPA). These DPA activities are linked to the Health and Physical Education curriculum and provide much needed resources for teachers. Suggestions are also included to help teachers link learning to other curriculum, such as math, language and the arts.
• At My Best® was piloted in the Peel Region, from January 2008 until June 2008. Approximately 5,000 students from 39 schools in the Peel Region (representing a broad and diverse composition from various urban, rural, socio-economic and multi-cultural backgrounds) participated in the pilot.

About AstraZeneca Canada Inc.

• AstraZeneca is a leading global pharmaceutical company with an extensive product portfolio spanning six major therapeutic areas: gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, infection, neuroscience, oncology, and respiratory. AstraZeneca's Canadian headquarters and packaging facility are located in Mississauga, Ontario, and its state-of-the-art drug discovery centre is based in Montreal, Quebec. As a company that cares about the health of Canadians, AstraZeneca Canada Inc. is proud to take an active leadership role in supporting health initiatives including At My Best®, Frontline Health and many others. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.astrazeneca.ca.

About Physical & Health Education Canada (formerly CAHPERD)

• Based in Ottawa, Physical & Health Education Canada is a national, charitable, voluntary-sector organization whose primary concern is to influence the healthy development of children and youth by advocating for quality, school-based physical and health education. For more information, visit www.phecanada.ca.