FOR most young people a healthy lifestyle sounds boring and something they would only worry about when they get older.
But Msimelelo Seti (22), from Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, has seen how fitness can become a career prospect and rub off on youngsters.
He is a break time buddy for Health in Action, a wellbeing improvement programme run by international humanitarian organisation, Inmed, Partnerships for Children and funded by the Mondelez International Foundation.
The programme has reached over 100 000 children at 116 primary schools in 13 at-risk communities in Joburg and Port Elizabeth.
Msimelelo is one of 28 Mzansi youngsters employed in the programme as a break time buddy, guiding playground activities and monitoring safety. Sports equipment including rugby, netball and soccer balls and skipping ropes are supplied by the programme to get them started.
The buddies’ main task is to show pupils that activity is fun.
Msimelelo has been so inspired by the programme’s success that he wants to become a sports coach.
Other programme areas
- Promoting fresh food in school-feeding schemes, and school garden and aquaponic projects to produce fresh vegetables and fish.
- Training school food staff to prepare nutritious meals.
- Encouraging healthier options from snack vendors.
- Include material on nutrition, wellness, hygiene and sanitation in the school curricula.
- Developing teacher wellness and stress management with Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s psychology department.
