About WoW

Weight of the World (WoW) is an educational program that promotes physical activity and healthy eating among children and youth and helps young people kick-start daily life changes in schools, families, communities and the world.

This inspiring program has three parts:

• the film,
• education modules (lesson planning)
• the WoW Challenge.
  

These parts are designed to help children and youth to become more physically active, to adopt healthier eating habits and to choose healthier lifestyles.

Physical and Health Education Canada (PHE Canada) believes that if people are given an opportunity to practice physical activity, healthy eating and overall healthy living at an early age, they will be more likely to see the benefits and, therefore, continue these practices into adulthood.

What makes WoW different from other educational programs?

Weight of the World creates an awareness of society’s barriers to a healthy lifestyle while at the same time providing a platform for discussion and action towards positive change. Through the support of the WoW program youth are encouraged to be socially responsible by not only engaging in solutions, but also engaging in the promotion of physical activity and healthy eating. WoW creates a space for future leaders to make a difference in their own lives and beyond!

Program Objectives

• Build youth awareness around the critical, emerging issue of obesity.
• Inspire students to find solutions to overcome society’s barriers to physical activity, healthy eating and healthy life choices.
• Support the delivery of quality physical and health education and many other school subject curricula.
• Channel physical activity, healthy eating, and overall healthy living from schools to home life, the community and the world.

WoW Challenge

The challenge is for children and youth to increase physical activity and enhance healthy eating in their schools, homes and communities.

 To take the WoW challenge, classes or groups must:

• develop and implement a group project (e.g. small group, whole class or entire school) to address the benefits of physical activity, healthy eating and overall healthy lifestyle choices
• communicate and showcase  efforts and the impact of the group project to others (e.g. video clip or poster)

*Please see education modules for full Challenge details

Why facing obesity is important?

• In 2004, the combined overweight/obesity rate for each sex was about 70% higher than it had been in 1978/79, and the obesity rate was 2.5 times higher”1

• Of even greater concern, statistics show that overweight and obese children are more likely to grow up to be obese adults, facing increased risk of diabetes, orthopedic problems and many other chronic diseases.2 This shows that if left untouched, the future health of Canada is grim. The total cost of obesity in Canada in 1997 was estimated to be $1.8 billion dollars. This corresponds to 2.4% of the total health care expenditures for all diseases in Canada in 1997. Besides the financial strain on Canadians research also shows that obesity negative impacts a person’s quality of life. “Numerous studies have demonstrated that obese persons experience significant impairments in quality of life as a result of their obesity, with greater impairments associated with greater degrees of obesity”3

• Recent findings, in light of the continued rise in levels of overweight and obesity, suggest these numbers are on the rise. Clearly education, prevention, and support are critical. By making daily life changes we, as a society, can make positive behavioural changes. Just “a 10% reduction in the prevalence of physical inactivity has the potential to reduce direct healthy care expenditures by $150 million a year”.4

• The Weight of the World Challenge is a credible intervention program that raises awareness, educates, and provides environments for positive behavioural and attitudinal change.

1 Shields, M. (2005) Measured Obesity: Overweight Canadian children and Adolescents, Nutrition: Findings from the Canadian Community Health Survey: Component of Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 82-620-MWE2005001.

2 Braddon, F.E., Rodgers, B., Wadsworth, M.E., Davies, J.M. (1986). Onset of Obesity in a 36 year birth cohort study. Br Medical Journal (Clinical Research Addition), 293 (6542): 299-303.

3 Kolotkin, R.L., Meter, K., & Williams, G.R. (2001). Quality of life and obesity.
Obesity Reviews, 2 (4), 219–229.

4 Anderson, R. (2000). The Spread of the childhood obesity epidemic. Canadian Leading Medical Journal, 163 (11): 1461.

PROGRAM PARTS

WoW Challenge Club

• Join the online club to access the WoW Tool Kit, WoW forum and other fun ideas.

WoW Tool Kit

• The WoW Tool Kit includes the Weight of the World film (streamed online), revised educational modules and provincial curriculum connections.

Weight of the World film

• Watch the NFB Film online
  
  

History of WOW

The Weight of the World program was started by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB)and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) the Nature of Things with David Suzuki. The first three phases of the WoW have been extremely successful and support the notion that there is a tremendous need for education materials on health and physical activity that are available in a comprehensive, integrated, user friendly and upbeat fashion to assist educators and motivate students to address the physical activity and healthy eating issue. In just under three months 4,700 orders were placed including 4,057 schools, 84 libraries, 266 health centres, and 140 youth centres, engaging approximately 750, 000 young people in the Weight of the World program. The user evaluation showed that WoW was extremely well received and that the educational materials made a positive impact in the awareness and adoption of healthier eating habits and increased physical activity.

With the guidance of two partners, the NFB and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), CAHPERD (now PHE Canada) stepped into the lead role of the WOW project in 2007. PHE Canada has a long standing reputation for offering high quality programs and resources on health and physical activity issues, and they also have an exceptional delivery system into every school, school board, university, and Ministry of Education in Canada. Due to PHE Canada’s abundance of Physical and Health educational experts and resources they were awarded a Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) grant to build upon the already sought after WoW program.