Class 2000

The foundations for addictive behaviour and unhealthy lifestyles are laid in childhood. Prevention is necessary and should begin as early as possible. This is where Klasse2000, Germany's largest health promotion programme for primary school children, comes in.

The Klasse2000 programme promotes a positive attitude towards health. The programme imparts knowledge about the body and gives practical tips on healthy eating and exercise. It also promotes the children's personal and social skills as well as their self-esteem. In this way, they are supported in mastering their lives in a healthy way.

Primary school children are continuously supported from year 1 to year 4. Each school year, the teachers carry out lessons for which they are provided with prepared material. Three further lessons are organised by specially trained Klasse2000 health promoters.

Since the programme began in 1991, more than 1.6 million children have become acquainted with Klasse 2000. Currently, every 7th primary school child in Germany takes part in Klasse2000. In the 2017/18 school year, over 480,000 children from more than 21,200 primary school classes took part, which corresponds to over 15% of all primary school classes. In the Saarpfalz district, a total of 68 primary school classes were supervised in the 2017/18 school year, both in primary schools and in special schools. In the 2017/18 school year, 4425 pupils in 204 classes attended primary school in the municipalities of the Saarpfalz district. This means that a total of 33% of primary school classes in the Saarpfalz district were involved in the Klasse2000 prevention programme in the 2017/18 school year. Of the 68 classes supported by the programme, 49 classes were supervised by 12 employees of the health department. As a health promotion team, doctors, socio-medical and medical assistants as well as social pedagogues from the health department transport the aim of Class 2000: "Health is fun" into the schools.

The best way to prevent addiction is for children and young people to successfully develop their personalities. Based on this insight, Klasse2000 covers the following topics:
Getting to know the body (breathing, movement, digestion, cardiovascular system, brain), eating healthy and tasty food, exercising and relaxing regularly, recognising and dealing with feelings, resolving conflicts without violence, critically assessing tobacco and alcohol and being able to say "no" to them even under peer pressure, seeing through advertising and dealing with television and computers. The programme is continuously revised and updated on the basis of ongoing evaluation and new scientific findings.

Klasse2000 is run by a non-profit organisation and is financed exclusively by donations, mostly in the form of sponsorships for individual classes. The sponsorship amount is currently 220 euros per school year and class. It covers the costs of employing the health promoters, developing and producing the teaching materials, shipping, evaluating and organising the programme. Partial sponsorships are also possible.

More than 6,700 people and organisations throughout Germany are involved as Class 2000 sponsors: Parents, companies, Lions and other service clubs, support organisations, foundations, doctors, health insurance companies, local authorities, savings banks, banks and many more. Since 2005, Klasse2000 has carried the donation seal of the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI). It is regarded as the most important seal of quality in the German donation sector.