AIA Group Limited (AIA) has announced the regional winners of the first AIA Healthiest Schools Competition. The initiative fosters active lifestyles, mental wellbeing and healthy eating habits among primary and secondary school students in Asia.
The programme comprises a competition to motivate schools to showcase their impact and success in driving better health outcomes among students. The competition serves as a platform for schools to build communities that share best practices and new ideas around promoting health and wellness within the school setting.
A total of 744 primary and secondary schools across Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam registered for the programme during the 2022/2023 academic year.
Mr Stuart A Spencer, AIA Group Chief Marketing Officer, said, "As the leading pan-Asian life and health insurer, the wellbeing of our communities is extremely important to AIA. We are proud of the early success of the initiative, and we will continue to accelerate our vision to create the largest community of schools, parents, and students that instils lifelong healthy behaviours in the region. The AIA Healthiest Schools competition furthers AIA's ambition to engage, educate and inspire a billion people to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives by 2030."
The regional winners were announced at an awards ceremony attended by Malaysia's Minister of Education and other stakeholders from the education sector. The winning entries were judged on the breadth of their work, level of engagement with staff and students, impact and future plans.
"We are delighted to recognise the winners of the first AIA Healthiest Schools competition. After careful evaluation, Daroonwittaya School from Thailand and Alpha School from Vietnam won in the primary and secondary school categories respectively," concluded Mr Spencer.
Daroonwittaya School stood out for the breadth of health and wellness activities that the school conducted. The school approached health and wellbeing holistically through nutrition, physical fitness, mental wellbeing and sustainability, with enthusiastic participation by the students.
Alpha School was recognised for the creative manner in which they focused on the mental wellbeing of their students through immersive workshops. Their "School of Wellbeing" exhibition addressed health issues facing children in an innovative and impactful way.