Current Initiatives

Nutrition Workshop

Nutrition workshops deliver nutrition education in the form of either virtual or in-person workshops to kinder & prep schools. Through community engagement, the nutrition workshop aims to introduce & develop nutrition knowledge to promote human health & well-being.

University Engagement

University Engagement aims to promote wellness amongst our peers and local community through speaker sessions led by a diverse group of experts and interactive activities that fall under four main themes – nutrition, physical activity, mental health/stress management, and public policy lessons from COVID. Our goal is to create an environment to raise awareness and encourage healthy lifestyles within the campus community, as well as an environment to learn about public health and meet peers who are passionate about similar health topics.

Physical Activity Workshop

Obesity has recently taken over smoking as the biggest preventable health threat with many health experts voicing their concern that children are not exercising enough. In fact, one in four children and adolescents aged 2-17 were found to be overweight or obese in 2018. As students from health-related degrees at the University of Melbourne, we aim to provide primary school students (Years 4-6) with basic scientific knowledge on the risks of obesity, and the importance of preventing lifestyle diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes through daily physical activities. In order to do this, we have designed virtual physical health workshops targeted students, which will relay such information in an understandable and engaging manner, as well as include fun interactive physical activity and games. We hope this workshop will raise awareness and encourage students to choose a more active lifestyle which will benefit not only their physical health, but also their mental health and emotional wellbeing.

Health and Hygiene Workshop

The Health and Hygiene workshop is a new addition to the many projects led by the Community Engagement Team at Strive. is intended for students from Years 1-3 (Ages 5-8) and will be conducted via a 30 minute interactive video presentation. The workshop was inspired after the COVID-19 pandemic. We aim to educate students on hygiene in a post- pandemic world, in order to prevent communicable disease outbreaks in schools and local communities. We also wish to help build healthy habits into the future, by focusing on the importance of washing hands, showering regularly, proper toothbrushing and flossing, wearing a mask or a face shield, covering their nose and mouth whilst sneezing, and more. These habits will be presented in a creative manner, as we will conduct fun activities to show them what can happen if they don’t follow these habits. Through this workshop, we hope to increase awareness on health and hygiene, protect school and family communities, and implement personal hygiene routines within the daily lives of young children.

Nutrition Storybook

The nutrition storybook, that is accompanied by a “Parents’ Guide to Healthy Eating”, is a project that the Community Engagement team at Strive has endeavoured to create for a few years. The storybook will accompany our nutrition workshops and is expected to launch is the near future. It is directed towards pre-school children (ages 3-5 years) to encourage healthy food choices and promote positive associations to fruits and vegetables. The storyline is simple and revolves around a main character Jack, a young boy, and his healthy friends, Broccoli, Orange and Carrot.

Whilst the government has abundant resources for healthy eating and meal preparations for parents, these documents are quite strenuous to read and may not be as readily accessible to individuals across all socio- economic standings. With this in mind, our team in CE have compiled and condensed these resources into a simplified resource that is easy to read. Through these two projects, the children’s storybook and the parents’ guide, we hope to perpetuate positive lifestyle choices to foster healthy futures for families.

Publications

Regimen: Striving for Global Health is a periodical university publication that aims to inspire students while empowering them with the knowledge and awareness to contribute positively to global public health.

This is achieved through providing access to valuable, engaging, and actionable information and perspectives from diverse voices including student articles, as well as interviews with compelling individuals and organisations within the public health ecosystem.