Nutrition, health and institutional responsibility – education takes the initiative

I. Heindl, Flensburg What is neglected in the early stages of education will cost us a great deal later. Germany´s health system has reached the limits of what is feasible in terms of medical possibilities and, even more so, in terms of financing. We have failed to ensure that our social welfare system which is based on the principle of solidarity is closely associcated with the understanding that everyone is responsible for one’s health. False nutrition and the lack of physical exercises have been shown to be associated with most serious risk factors. In this situation it is once again called upon the educational institutions for help. As in politics and in economy one is primarily out for immediate success, there is reason to assume that a justifiable health education campaign will ask too much of kindergartens and schools if the existing curriculum is merely supplemented by yet another subject. The present paper underlines the responsibility of institutions and presents a concept for health promotion at schools, illustrated by an aesthetic and culture-based model of nutrition education. Keywords: Nutrition / educational initiative / health / institutional responsibility Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs-Umschau 06/04 ab Seite 224.