,WORLD SILVER medal-winning athlete Olive Loughnane has urged primary children to “keep fit and eat well” as part of a healthy living project initiated in Galway.
Ms Loughnane, who won her silver medal in the recent World Championships 20km walk in Berlin and came seventh in last year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, has also emphasised the importance of avoiding nicotine.
She was guest of honour at the launch of the third annual Medtronic Healthy Living Project, details of which were announced last night in the multinational’s Galway base in Parkmore.
The healthy living project has already enlisted over 600 primary school children in Galway – focusing on proper diet and fitness. Along with An Taisce’s green schools initiative, it has transformed a number of pupils into keen gardeners – growing their own vegetables in the “outdoor classroom”.
Some 300 pupils have been targeted for this year’s programme, but Ms Loughnane is not expecting them to adopt her gruelling training schedule just yet. There will be tuition in fitness training, gymnastics, how the body functions, and the relationship between diet and healthy living, with the support of primary school teachers across the city and county.