I organized a workshop on sleeping for health ambassadors in Amsterdam-East. This workshop was part of the ‘Op GezondeTour’ plus training. The workshop consisted of 3 meetings. I first discussed with the health ambassadors what they would like to learn. We then made a timeline together in which they had to fill in their activities for each family member from dinner until bedtime. We discussed this timeline and together we looked at the most important stumbling points when it comes to sleeping habits within the family. One of the main challenges turned out to be the kids’ screen use and setting rules. We brainstormed and wrote down tips for each other on the topic. In the second meeting, we invited a colleague from the Parent and Child Team to provide more information and practical tips about setting rules. In the last meeting we learned more about the importance of sleep and how to pass this information on to the kids.

Another fun activity was the photography project I did with moms. The mothers were first instructed to take pictures of their daily lives. We then discussed the content of these photos and used them as a starting point to talk about a healthy lifestyle. This activity gave me new leads for my research, so this was not only fun but also very valuable!

What I remember most about these activities is the involvement of the parents in the neighborhood. It was very special to see how everyone is passionate and enthusiastic about a healthy living environment for their children and themselves.
During the Sarphati symposium, Emma and I presented a poster about our project.
The poster can be found here .

Over the past two school years (2018-2020), we have conducted research together with young people from Amsterdam East into how young people sleep, eat and exercise. Weekly participatory meetings were held with young people from two primary and two secondary schools. The young people themselves conducted research into their own lifestyle behaviors (nutrition, sleeping and exercise) and that of their peers. In addition, young people conducted research into why young people eat and drink unhealthy, sleep too little or exercise and what can be done to improve this. They also learned how to set up, conduct and analyze a study. Now it’s time for ACTION! In recent years, young people have already taken a step towards devising and developing actions to improve the lifestyle behavior of young people. In the coming school year, together with the young people, we will fully focus on devising and developing actions based on all information from their surveys. Together with the students, we will consider small-scale actions, such as making the food available in the school cafeteria healthier, and large-scale actions, such as improving the food supply in the neighbourhood. We are looking forward to working with this group again after the summer holidays!

At the beginning of July 2020, the children of the two primary schools that took part in the participatory meetings (i.e. the health teams) had a goodbye picnic in the Oosterpark. Group supervisor and researcher Rabab Chrifou organized the picnic together with co-supervisor and intern Vincent Wesdorp. At 12:00 the first group went for a picnic. It rained a bit then, but that didn’t stop the kids from going to the park. The second picnic was held at 3:00 PM. This group was a bit more lucky with the weather, because the sun was shining! Healthy snacks and drinks were offered during the picnic. We also played a game and the kids could play in the park. To finish, the supervisors and the children briefly evaluated the year. The kids enjoyed the meetings and were eager to learn more about healthy living. All kids received a certificate of participation stating which activities they had done in the past year. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to a number of kids who are going to secondary school next year. Fortunately, they said that they want to keep in touch with us. On to next year!