According to current health reporting data from the Office of Health and Consumer Protection, there is an increasing rise in fine and gross motor deficits among children starting school in the Börde district. In the 2024 school entry examinations, almost 18% of children show significant deficits in fine motor skills and a further 10% of children show significant deficits in gross motor skills. This puts the Börde district above the state average for Saxony-Anhalt in both areas. The Office for Health and Consumer Protection has taken this as an opportunity to carry out two health promotion projects together with the town of Wanzleben-Börde - "Fit for the crèche" and "Conscious and active in harmony" - in the town's day-care centres.
The "Fit for the crèche" project starts in early childhood and is implemented in three daycare centres in the town of Wanzleben-Börde. The focus is on a healthy upbringing from the very beginning and a healthy transition to everyday life at the daycare centre. The programme focuses on exercise, nutrition and psychosocial health. Parents and their children who are about to enter a daycare centre are to be accompanied and supported in this regard in order to strengthen parental health literacy and promote the children's development from the very beginning. As part of the project, preventative exercise programmes for children will be implemented, information evenings for parents will be offered and teaching staff will be trained in the respective areas of focus.
As part of the "Conscious and Active in Harmony" project, low-threshold exercise programmes for children are being implemented in five daycare centres in the town of Wanzleben-Börde. The low-threshold exercise programmes consist of elements of relaxation and activity. The interaction of these elements is intended to strengthen and promote the children's physical and mental development. Accordingly, exercises are carried out with the children that address their motor skills as well as their inner balance and body awareness. Educational staff are trained as multipliers in order to integrate the low-threshold exercise programmes into the day-to-day life of day-care centres. Knowledge and methods are also imparted to parents for transfer to everyday family life.
Both projects are coordinated by the Office for Health and Consumer Protection of the district of Börde. Other offices of the district administration involved are the Youth Welfare Office with the Early Help Network Centre and the district adult education centre. The projects will be financed until the end of 2026 by a funding programme of the GKV Alliance for Health Saxony-Anhalt.