Almost 300 students from two local schools are taking part in the fourth Zespri Young and Healthy Virtual Adventure.

Wainui School has 208 students taking part, and 73 students from Gulf Harbour School will participate. 

The local children are part of 6,023 children from 52 schools in the Auckland area to join the five-week virtual adventure. 

About 20,000 children from 261 schools across New Zealand will also be joining in.

The challenge aims to inspire and educate children to make healthy choices for a lifetime of good physical and mental health.

Young and Healthy Charitable Trust and Virtual Adventure Founder, Kim Harvey is excited to get started and continue sharing the foundations of good health with this year’s participants. 

“The children earn points for simple healthy habits like drinking plenty of water, eating fruit and vegetables, caring for their mental health and looking after our environment, which helps them travel virtually to different locations around the world with their classmates,” says Kim.

This year includes a focus on ‘Moving in Nature’ to encourage them to move outdoors during the cooler, greyer days because it has so many additional benefits that boost their energy and wellbeing. 

“We’re very lucky to live in a country surrounded by natural beauty and we’re encouraging our kids to get their nature’s fix in winter by playing on the school field at lunch, walking or biking after school, or planning a trip to their local beach, lake or mountain in the weekend,” says Kim.

“We chose this focus this year for some extra encouragement during the cooler months and because we know how important it is for our mental health, that exercising outside magnifies the benefits of movement, and also how noticing nature influences us to take greater care of it.” 

The programme is complemented by a series of in-person school visits, including special guest appearances by sports stars and ASICS ambassadors, and 13 deserving classrooms will receive free ASCIS sports shoes. 

This year’s adventure finishes on Tuesday, 19th September 2023.