Abstract

This systematization aims to show the process that originated the schools in the movement model, conceptually anchored to the ecological model whose purpose is to counteract the effects of a sedentary lifestyle, overweight, and childhood obesity at school. The work was conceived using existing structures installed in public institutions; this included, among the actions, the creation of spaces to promote health and physical activity. Under this perspective, RECAFIS (Costa Rican Network of Physical Activity for Health) from the Belen-Flores sector, in the province of Heredia, Costa Rica, was used; it served as a platform to implement this intervention model called schools in movement. This model was implemented in three public schools in the province of Heredia. The methodology consisted of observing the activities that boys and girls carried out during school time (breaks, physical education classes, classroom behavior). Subsequently, an activity plan was implemented to promote active styles at the interpersonal, intrapersonal, and organizational levels. The ecological model supported this work strategy. The experiences lived were systematized to guide the construction of interventions to promote active lifestyles in childhood within the school environment by stimulating basic motor skills such as skipping, jumping, and running. The interventions in which families, children, and institutions participated are included. Conclusions: The multi-level, inter-institutional intervention, based on the ecological theory, demonstrated its suitability to promote active lifestyles in the spaces of the academic levels and from Physical Education classes, through original interventions, which contemplate students’ tastes and interests to let them be more active and healthy without segregating overweight and obese schoolchildren due to the stigmatization effects and obstacles that this practice generated.

Keywords: school physical activity; intervention policies; sedentary lifestyle and obesity