The promotion of student participation in sport and physical activity will take centre stage in NSW public schools in a State Government initiative to combat childhood obesity.

The Premier’s Sporting Challenge aims to encourage students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. Students who reach predetermined exercise levels will receive Premier’s awards, with the “gold award” of 60 minutes of physical activity a day – the recommended national guideline – the program’s target.

The Premier, Morris Iemma, said the program would help students develop healthy lifestyle habits and increase their chances of avoiding obesity-related problems such as heart disease and diabetes later in life.

“What we want to do is see our kids get in at least one hour of activity per day, whether it’s walking, playing sport, keeping active or getting fit,” Mr Iemma said at the launch of the challenge last term.

“That’s the best thing for their wellbeing – we’ve got about a third of our young children at school who are overweight or obese. That’s unacceptable.”

The primary and secondary premier’s sporting challenges, which commenced this month, require students to maintain log books of the time spent participating in sport or physical activity. The primary challenge runs on a class basis while the secondary challenge is for teams of 10 students.

Teachers and students plan a program and set goals to accrue time spent on physical activity. They have 15 weeks, out of the program’s 20-week timeframe, to meet their goals and can include time spent on physical activity at school, home and on weekends.

The education department’s school sport unit manager, David Power, said materials for schools and teachers to “assist them in supporting students’ participation in physical activity and managing and coaching sport” will be available on the Premier’s Sporting Challenge website.

Students who average 30 minutes physical activity a day are eligible for a Premier’s bronze award, while those who average 45 minutes qualify for silver. Students who rack up 80 minutes each day will earn a diamond award.

Elite level athletes, including Australian representatives Brett Lee (cricket), Susan Pratley (netball) and Craig Wing (rugby league), will visit schools in their role of sporting challenge ambassadors.

Rugby league initiative One Community is the principal partner of the sporting challenge.

The National Rugby League chief executive, David Gallop, said: “We’re looking to showcase the game’s already strong community involvement and build further interaction between all levels of the game and the community.”

The State Government initiative provides $50 million over four years to improve sports facilities and equipment in public schools, and recurrent funding for programs that encourage participation in physical activity and school-based sport.

Those programs include a research project to increase the participation of girls in sport and physical activity, an online sports leadership training program for students who want to be accredited as sports officials or trainers, and the extension of the Dancing Classrooms program.

For more information go to: https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/psc/home.html