THE Health Promotion Board (HPB) has announced a new programme - the Healthy Origins and Firm Foundations Programme - which will be launched from April 2011.
The programme aims to to empower parents-to-be and parents to give their children a healthy headstart in life, starting from pre-nate up to the age range of 17 to 23.
They will be engaged in HPB's latest long-term strategy to combat chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity in the population.
The programme will also collaborate with maternity and children's hospitals. A health education resource package for new mothers will be developed to provide them with informative and practical tips to maintain healthy pregnancy and raise healthy children in their early developmental years.
The HPB will also partner other stakeholders such as pre-schools and and child care centres involved in the early growth and development of children.
Dr K. Vijaya, Director of HPB's Youth Health Division, said: 'To tackle chronic diseases including obesity, it is vital that we adopt a holistic approach which spans the entire spectrum of life. The Healthy Origins Programme and Firm Foundations Programme supports this approach and represents a strategic move in our health promotion efforts early, to influence significant phases of growth and development to yield long-term health benefits for the individual and population.'
By Vanessa Jalleh (Straits Times)
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