Context
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is essential to the development, health, and quality of life of young people and can significantly contribute to their educational success. Schools, through their educational vocation, must be supportive and exemplary environments.
Since the launch of the Framework Policy on Healthy Eating and Active Living Going the Healthy Route at School[1], Quebec schools have redoubled their efforts to create healthy school environments.
Unfortunately, a report by the Coalition québécoise sur la problématique du poids noted that sugary drinks were still offered in our schools, that the quality of the food offered was declining in certain environments and that the application of certain orientations of the Framework Policy needed to be rethought in light of recent scientific knowledge [2].
A recent study concludes that the cardiovascular fitness of Quebec children and adolescents has declined since the 1980s[3]. Experts see school as one of the solutions to remedy this situation.
How can schools offer favorable school environments...
You can start with the School Information System (SIS), which enables you to target the actions you need to prioritize, based on the actual situation in a given environment, in order to continuously improve your school's environment.
What is the School Information System?
The School Information System is a unique and user-friendly digital platform that allows staff in elementary, secondary, public, and private schools to self-diagnose their environments in terms of elements related to healthy lifestyles. It includes bilingual thematic questionnaires to profile each participating school, with reference to government objectives and recent scientific knowledge.
Currently, the thematic questionnaires available, food offer at lunchtime and meal contexts, aim to provide a snapshot of the school food environment. Progressively, other thematic questionnaires will be made available to create a global portrait of the school environment regarding elements of healthy lifestyle habits. For example, questionnaires on the supply of physical activity and sport offerings are being developed.
What is the purpose is the School Information System?
The School Information System generates an automated report for your school for each thematic questionnaire completed. The report:
- is free and available immediately after submission of a questionnaire to both the respondent and for the school administration.
- presents the strengths and challenges to be met in connection with components of the school environment related to the adoption and maintenance of healthy lifestyle habits among students.
- provides customized recommendations and offers resources to equip your school’s workforce to implement improvements.
This tool, the SIS, enables us to target the actions to be prioritized according to the actual situation in a given environment, and the tools available to improve their environments on an ongoing basis.
Your school will be asked periodically to complete the questionnaires again. You will receive an up-to-date automated report, which will allow you to measure the effect of your interventions on the quality of your school environment.
In addition, the information collected will help researchers and public authorities to:
- evaluate school environments regarding elements related to healthy lifestyles, such as the level of implementation of the Framework Policy on Healthy Eating and Active Living Going the Healthy Route at School, globally and in the different regions of Quebec.
- detect the difficulties encountered by schools in creating healthy environments.
- provide schools with the tools and resources they need to create healthy environments.
The ministère de l’Éducation is currently updating the Framework Policy to reflect new scientific knowledge and research. By participating, you will help create a provincial portrait that will be considered in this review.
Note that your school’s individual data will remain confidential and will not be released.
Need help?
- A quick and easy tutorial is presented to all users connecting for the first time to the School Information System. A link at the bottom of the platform allows you to view it again, if necessary.
- Our coordinator can also assist you with any other need. Contact this person at sis@usherbrooke.ca or at 819 821-8000, ext. 66234.
Take action.
[1] Ministère de l'Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport. (2007). Going the Healthy Route at School – Framework Policy on Healthy Eating and Active Living. Québec.
http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/dpse/adaptation_serv_compl/virageSanteEcole_PolCadre.pdf
[2] Morel, A-M. et Voyer, C. (2017). Virage santé à l'école, 10 ans plus tard - Constats et recommandations. Coalition québécoise sur la problématique du poids.
https://cqpp.qc.ca/files/P6-Ecole_sante/Virage-sante-10-ans-plus-tard.pdf
[3] Leone, M, Levesque, P., Bourget-Gaudreault, S., Lemoyne, J., Kalinova, E., Comtois, AS., Bui, HT., Léger, L., Frémont, P. et Allisse, M. (2023). Secular trends of cardiorespiratory fitness in children and adolescents over a 35-year period: Chronicle of a predicted foretold. Front. Public Health, 10:1056484.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1056484.