Expanded health initiative to cover kindergarten and P4-P5 pupils

An initiative helping children and adolescents lead a healthy lifestyle will be expanded to include kindergarteners and Primary 4 and 5 students.

Known as the Health Plan, school children are given a set of goals after consulting with a trained professional, who assesses their annual health screening results and a parent-completed questionnaire to create their tailored "lifestyle prescription".

About 114,000 Primary 1 to Primary 3 pupils have received their health plans in 2025, since the scheme under the national health promotion strategy Grow Well SG was launched that year.

From January 2026, the personalised health plans will be introduced to preschoolers enrolled in Kindergarten 1 and 2 as well as P4 and 5 students, announced the Ministries of Health, Education and Social and Family Development on Wednesday (Jan 21).

The three ministries said in a joint statement that the initiative had received positive feedback from parents and educators after a pilot with approximately 840 kindergarteners in July 2025.

"The preschool years are a critical period as preferences and habits are formed during this period and become the foundation for lifelong health," they said, noting that research has found that establishing healthy lifestyle habits is best done early.

With the newly introduced health plans, all K1 and K2 children will have a custom health plan in addition to the annual school health screening.

Parents will be given activity sheets to engage their children and reinforce health goals at home, for example, exercising and eating healthy. Pre-schools will also receive a toolkit with resources to promote healthy habits within the school.

The initiative will be rolled out progressively and is expected to cover about 1,800 pre-schools by end-2026.

Meanwhile, about 80,000 P4 and 5 students in 2026 will benefit from the health plans, which is similarly incorporated into the school health screening.

Beginning 2027, Primary 6 pupils — using their health plans received in previous years — will be led by teachers to discuss and reflect their lifestyle choices to sustain healthy habits, said the ministries.

"This will complement current practices of reiterating health messages through the school curriculum, for example, Physical Education and Character and Citizenship Education classes," they added.

Minister of State for Education Jasmin Lau said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the health journey of every child is a joint effort between families, schools and healthcare professionals.

"I encourage all parents to discuss the health plans with your child and walk with them through their Grow Well journey. Having these conversations regularly at home is just as important as what happens in school," she wrote.

Minister of State for Social and Family Development Goh Pei Ming also said that families can use the health plan to forge healthy habits together, and create shared memories.

"When children feel connected with their families and friends, they're more motivated to adopt healthy habits," he added.

The health plans is one of three initiatives belonging to the government programme Grow Well SG.

The two other initiatives include guidelines and measures on limiting screen use in children and improving student health in schools through a Student Health Status Card and healthier canteen options.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com