Kita children relax with yoga

Yoga and balanced nutrition for daycare children

09/18/2014

Balanced diet, adequate exercise, emotional well-being: A new initiative of the AOK aims to help day care centers promote a healthy lifestyle for daycare children. Yoga is also provided for the little ones as part of the health program.

"Fit and healthy in the daycare center"
With a new initiative, the AOK wants to support day-care centers nationwide to playfully introduce children from three to six years to the topic of health. For many kindergartens, sufficient exercise, balanced nutrition and dental care have been part of childcare for a long time anyway. The health insurance wants to support them now with the health program "JolinchenKids - Fit and healthy in the day care center" and also to expand the focus on the health of the educators.

Holistic approach
The training, materials and food for the prevention program, which supports the "implementation of a healthy lifestyle" and helps to "create conditions for a healthy growing up and working in the KiTa", are free of charge for the institutions, as stated in a communication the AOK in Hesse is called. "In terms of content, a holistic approach is pursued, whereby the mental health now occupies significantly more space." The program was tested in Lower Saxony and Thuringia with extremely positive results.

Positive innovations for the educators
According to a report by the "Sächsische Zeitung", Stefanie Mahrla, director of the Kita Kinderspiel in Dresden, decided to participate in the new project. She said, "Everyone who comes in and out of us should feel comfortable here." For the 20 educators, daily work with 153 children is a constant challenge. Now, the new project has tested positive innovations for the educators, for example, a back-school course, with which back pain can be countered.

Yoga class and massages
As part of the project, the children in Saxony started with the topic of mental well-being. The educators can take ready-made exercise instructions from a card box, for example, for massages, which give the little ones each other or for suggestions on how the children can beautify the rooms of the day-care center. Also instructions for relaxation exercises are included. In addition, the social pedagogue Annette Drechsler offers for some time a yoga class. The kids already know well-known figures, such as the tree. Yoga is not only one of the most common relaxation exercises for reducing stress, but has also shown promising results in children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in older studies.

Program is designed for three years
The goal of the AOK is to reach in the first year across Germany about 600 day care centers, which participate. Next year, another 1,000 facilities will follow. The project has been set up for three years and will be supervised by local AOK staff during this time. The health insurance is about prevention. This is offered to all children, not just those insured with the AOK. Jolinchen is not only a project name, but also the identification figure: The mascot is a small, green dragon. The participating day-care centers decide for themselves which priorities they take up. (Ad)