Western Australian Institute of Sport athletes and Olympic representatives Kim Mickle and Olivia Vivian lent their support this week to the Go for 2&5 WAIS Community Development Program at Belmay Primary School in Cloverdale.
The Go for 2&5 Community Program sees WAIS athletes visit local schools to promote healthy active lifestyles, primarily through eating two fruit and five veg, and getting regular physical activity.
Mickle – who competed at the 2012 London Olympics, and Vivian who competed in Beijing four years earlier – spent an hour talking with the students at Belmay PS, focusing on their experiences at Olympic level, and linking their success back to earlier days of being involved in community sport and fuelling those pursuits with a healthy diet, containing plenty of fruit and vegetables.
The WAIS scholarship holders took the kids through their paces with a couple of fruit and veg themed activities, with fruit n veg tag and the fruit salad relay in particular proving very popular.
Mickle said following the visit that it was a pleasure to mix a positive health message whilst doing so in a fun and inclusive environment.
“The kids love it,” she said. “The key is to make it not seem like work. It’s not hard to get them motivated for exercise if you give them the right activities,” said the seven time national javelin champion.
Vivian – who also completed a college degree in the US on a gymnastics scholarship following Beijing – said that encouraging children to eat healthy was something that was close to her heart.
“I love my fruit and veggies, so being able to get in front of those kids and give them some ideas on how to get more fruit and vegetables into their day, is actually really rewarding.”
“The willingness is there, the rest is up to mums and dads to make sure the right things are on the plate,” she said.
The Go for 2&5 WAIS Community Development Program is available to primary schools across WA, with sporting clubs also targeted for the health message.
Any enquiries regarding the program can be sent to WAIS Public Relations Co-ordinator Chris Abbott via cabbott@wais.org.au
