Kaveri and her husband have always valued a healthy lifestyle and tried their best to set an example for their children. But like many parents, they found it challenging to get their kids fully on board. Her daughter, Ayana struggled with staying active, eating on time, and getting enough sleep—especially on weekends when routines were more relaxed.

When Ayana was given a personalised health plan from the school, Kaveri noticed changes in her child. Ayana started to take the initiative. Kaveri no longer has to prompt Ayana to be active, to eat her meals on time and sleep on time. Instead, Ayana began making her own plans on Physical activity, telling her parents what she wanted to do and how long she wanted to exercise and when she is planning on doing it. She is now exercising 4-5 times a week instead of 2-3 times previously. She also became much more mindful of her meals, planning her eating times more carefully and including vegetables and fruits in her meals. She also makes sure she got sufficient sleep by going to bed earlier – especially on the weekends, where previously she stayed up late.

Interestingly, Ayana’s journey didn’t stop with her. Her older brother, a Primary 5 student, was inspired by Ayana’s commitment and began adopting healthier habits too such as sleep early on the weekend. Before long, the entire family found themselves more aligned in making healthier lifestyle choices together. What started as a health plan for Ayana had a ripple effect, transforming the family dynamic and bringing everyone closer in their shared commitment to healthier living.

Before receiving the Child Health Plan, Mr Wong had already been encouraging Cara to lead a healthy lifestyle. Cara stayed active through her Aikido classes and daily 2.4km walks. As a family, they cooked most of their meals at home, and Cara regularly ate fruits and vegetables.

However, snacking was one area where Cara struggled. She enjoyed eating potato chips, often late at night, as she can’t go to bed feeling hungry. Mr Wong found it difficult to control her snacking habits. He didn’t want to deprive her or risk her going to bed hungry, and he also couldn’t always monitor what she ate at school, where friends often influenced her choices.

When Cara received her Health Plan, she set goals to exercise for two hours daily, eat two portions of fruits and vegetables, and avoid snacking. For Mr Wong, these goals weren’t surprising, as Cara was already maintaining a relatively healthy lifestyle. As a result, the family didn’t need to make much major change, but the plan served as a good reminder to stay consistent.

Mr Wong and his wife continued to support Cara by going on family walks together and encouraging her to play outside at parks and playgrounds with her friends to meet her health goals of exercising 2 hours daily. Mr Wong also encourages Cara to consume healthier snacks such as yoghurt and low-fat milk when she feels hungry at night. He observed Cara becoming more mindful about her overall lifestyle habits overtime and is now opting for healthier snacks such as dark chocolate, unsweetened greek yoghurt and cashew nuts.

Mr Wong hopes that Cara will one day become more intrinsically motivated to sustain her healthy behaviors. While he feels the Child Health Plan is a good guide for both children and parents, he acknowledged that its success depends on the child’s openness to change and the parents’ role in providing consistent reminders and support.

Before Krystal received her Health Plan, she already led an active and healthy lifestyle. She enjoys gymnastics, swimming, and loves fruit. However, Krystal had a sweet tooth and particularly enjoyed ice-cream after her enrichment classes on weekends and sugary malt drinks daily.

During Krystal’s annual school health screening session, the nurse advised her to cut down on sweet treats. As a part of the Health Plan, they worked together to set a goal to limit her to two sugary drinks a week. The importance of the nurse’s advice became clearer to Krystal when she saw posters in a clinic warning about the dangers of diabetes, making her even more determined to meet her new goals.

Her mother, Michelle, is happy about this, as she herself isn’t a fan of sugary snacks and hopes it will further support Krystal’s awareness of healthy eating.

With the Health Plan, Krystal now actively makes clear choices to cut down on sugar. She has stopped asking for ice-cream on weekends and cut down on her malt drink consumption. Inspired by Krystal’s consistent actions, her family — including her parents and elder sister — also decided to stop eating ice cream. Although there are days where they crave a sweet treat, they find joy in cutting back on sugar together.

The Health Plan initiative has made Michelle more aware of her role in improving her children’s health. In fact, Michelle acted on the nurse’s advice and has stopped packing daily sugary packaged drinks for Krystal, which has led to Krystal completely cutting it from her diet.

With clear advice and easy-to-follow steps, the plan helped Krystal make better choices while giving Michelle the confidence to support her. They’re now building better habits together for a healthier future, one step at a time.

Before the Health Plan, Haris led a moderately active lifestyle, spending time outdoors 2 - 3 times a week walking, cycling, or playing with friends. However, he loves sugary drinks and had it almost every day. His mother, Mdm Nur, found it difficult to limit his intake as she also enjoyed them — whenever she bought a sweet drink, Haris would either take a sip from hers or get one himself.

During his health screening, Haris set two key goals: to increase his physical activity to at least 7 hours a week and to cut down on sugary drinks, limiting himself to no more than 3 a week.

Since then, Haris has taken an active role in managing his lifestyle. As part of the Health Plan, he plans his own outdoor activities and makes it a point to play outside daily for at least 2 hours, be it basketball, badminton or skating with friends. His enthusiasm has also inspired his family to stay active — his sister joins him for skipping or badminton a few times a week, while he takes 5km walks with his mother and aunt, and cycles with his father on the weekends.

While Haris is still working towards his goal of reducing sugary drinks, Mdm Nur has taken steps to support him. She no longer stocks these drinks at home and has made a pact with him to cut back together. When Haris asks for a sugary drink, she sometimes says 'no’ to help him stick to his goal. Besides listening to her advice, he also makes an effort to eat more fruit and vegetables.

3 months after his health screening, Haris has grown taller and maintained a healthy weight. Beyond the health benefits, the changes have strengthened family bonds, as they now spend more time being active together. Mdm Nur treasures these moments and appreciates how the Health Plan has helped Haris become more independent in planning his activities.

The Health Plan has been a useful tool in helping Haris understand his own habits and make positive lifestyle changes. With professional health advice, he takes his goals more seriously and is motivated to follow through. While Mdm Nur’s reminders and advice were often brushed off as "nagging", the Health Plan has made Haris more willing to listen and make changes, turning good intentions into real actions.