At Godson elementary, students in Grades 2 and 3 learned how to eat healthier.

At South Poplar Traditional, a walking/jogging trail was built around the school and a soccer program was developed.

At Eugene Reimer middle school, students used heart monitors to gather data about their personal fitness levels.

It’s all part of Healthy Abbotsford – an initiative officially launched last week to encourage students and the general public to eat well, be active and live tobacco-free.

Christina Vugteveen, who heads Healthy Abbotsford with city hall, said the idea is that ensuring people are active and healthy leads to a happier, stronger community.

“A healthier person can do more things,” she said.

The initiative encourages schools, businesses, organizations and individuals to develop and follow their own health and fitness programs. Support is provided through a website (healthyabbotsford.ca) packed with tips on exercise, nutrition and smoking cessation.

Throughout October, a community challenge is held in which people are encouraged to chart their activity levels, aiming for 2010 seconds (33.5 minutes) most days. They then submit their exercise logs by Nov. 8 to be eligible for prize draws.

Vugteveen said there has so far been “a tremendous amount of enthusiasm” for the challenge. Last year, 5,000 people signed up when the program operated as In Motion.

“We’re confident we’ll be able to increase that,” Vugteveen said.

Cindy Romanowski, the school district’s vice-principal of curriculum, said Healthy Abbotsford fits in well with other health-based goals, including provincial government guidelines for fitness and nutrition.

“Healthy children are better able to learn, and schools can directly influence children’s health,” she said.

As an example, she points to a nutrition project implemented by teachers Barb Jones and Terry LePage at Godson elementary.

There, Grade 2 and 3 students were involved in the research, preparation, serving and sampling of healthy snacks and meals.

Daily fitness is also part of the Healthy Schools program at Godson.

“Students have demonstrated a marked increase in their knowledge and awareness of the importance of making healthy food choices and maintaining regular fitness activity,” Jones said.

Healthy Abbotsford has five community partners – the City of Abbotsford, the school district, Fraser Health, University of the Fraser Valley and the Abbotsford News – which are involved in promoting the initiative through schools and at community events.

Activity logs for the Fall Activity Challenge are available at local recreation centres, UFV student activity centre, Valhalla Pure and Bikram Yoga.

Visit healthyabbotsford.ca for more information.