Antony Perry
5 December 2016: Budding graphic designers from the University of Canberra have used the creative juices of Giralang Primary School students to design a report card aimed at curbing childhood obesity.
Third-year graphic design students from the University have worked closely with the third and fourth graders this year to develop the system to help children reach healthy fitness levels and maintain positive body weight.
Measurements taken from almost 30,000 primary school-aged children – 75 per cent of whom attend schools in the ACT – helped form the fitness and body weight standards the system is based on.
Guidelines to meeting these standards have been included on the Physical Activity and Lifestyle Management (PALM) card to help children remain active and healthy as they continue to grow.
University of Canberra professor of public health Tom Cochrane, who co-authored a research paper on the concept, said the PALM cards would act as an important tool in combating the rise in overweight children.
“We developed these monitoring and progression standards to provide parents and school communities with guidelines around fitness and body weight standards for primary school aged children,” Professor Cochrane said.
“We know that students’ activity levels have been declining for many years. We hope that these standards will give kids something to work to, and help reverse these worrying trends.”
The project, a collaboration between the University’s Health Research Institute and Cross-Cultural Design Lab, saw the students participate in a number of workshops over the last 12 months which encouraged them to think about their own health and wellbeing.
The primary schoolers completed drawings and filled in questionnaires created by the University’s graphic designers to assist them in designing their concepts for the PALM cards.
Giralang students visited the University on 5 December to see the fruits of their labour and meet the graphic designers who drew inspiration from their responses.
University of Canberra assistant professor of graphic design and founder of the Cross-Cultural Design Lab Lisa Scharoun said involving the children in the design process will yield greater buy-in from students and parents.
“By using a co-design process, we will hopefully see the PALM card system successfully rolled out and adopted by parents and children,” Dr Scharoun said.
“Encouraging input from the students fosters a sense of ownership in the system. We’re confident this will translate to the children embracing and using it.”
The winning report card, as voted by the primary schoolers, will be considered in the final design before being trialled at schools across the ACT.
