Health matters for children

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With UEFA’s help, children from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been highlighting the role that sport can play in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Street events
UEFA’s partner, Open Fun Football Schools, teamed up with the Georgian Heart Foundation to organise street football events in the Georgian capital Tbilisi in May. The OFFS and the Georgian Heart Federation came together as a result of UEFA’s support for World Heart Day.

‘Healthy life’
As part of events organised for Heart Week in Tbilisi, more than 100 children between the ages of eight and 12 played street football and basketball around the theme of ‘healthy life through physical activity’. Seven of the children who took part have heart conditions or diabetes. Also, children from neighbouring countries joined local youngsters in street football matches on six temporary football grounds. The Ministry of Public Health and Georgian non-governmental organisations working to combat tobacco and alcohol abuse were involved in other activities during the week.

Open Fun Football Schools
The Danish Cross Cultures Projects Association (CCPA) organises Open Fun Football Schools for more than 30,000 eastern European children of all skill levels each year. These are based on a concept of fun football that downplays competition and is designed to develop confidence and teamwork. “Children and adults across eastern Europe love football,” said Anders Levinsen, director of the CCPA. “We use this shared passion to help bring together divided communities, and leave behind equipment and training that helps local football clubs maintain or develop activities for children.”

Heart disease
Another bond that crosses eastern European political and social divides is the common need to combat heart disease and strokes. In Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan alike, they kill more people than all other causes combined. “We hope to motivate youngsters to eat healthy diets, remain physically active and avoid smoking, so that they can avoid the early death and disability that causes much pain, suffering and poverty and which is a barrier to our economic growth,” said Dr Merab Mamatsashvili, president of the Georgian Heart Foundation.

Fighting obesity
Obesity is a major cause of heart attacks, and healthy diet and physical activity helps reduce these risks. In most countries in Europe, less than half of all young people get the recommended hour of exercise a day, and more than a quarter of all children watch four hours of television a day or more. At the current rate of increase, the World Health Organisation estimates there will be more than 15 million obese children and adolescents in the European region by 2010.

Written by Ramaz Mitaishvili

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