site.btaPM's Adviser on Sports Proposes Student Programmes to Promote Sports, Healthy Lifestyle

Dimitar Berbatov, adviser to the caretaker prime minister on youth and sports, has proposed programmes aimed at promoting sport and healthy lifestyles among students. The Council of Ministers’ press service said he had sent specific ideas and proposals to the caretaker ministers of youth and sports, education and science, and health - Dimitar Iliev, Sergei Ignatov and Michail Okoliyski.

The proposals were developed following meetings with the three ministers and aim to establish sport as a factor for health, prevention and disease control by encouraging physical activity and healthy lifestyles among young people.

In a letter to ministers Iliev and Ignatov, Berbatov outlined the operational plan "Open Gym", which envisages school sports halls being opened for use after school hours. The plan includes the introduction of a national standard contract for licensed clubs, with rental revenues to be used for repairs, modernization, supplies and security of school facilities. The initiative places emphasis on hygiene, safety and equal access to sports facilities for both professional and mass sport. The system would operate on a regional basis, with priority given to clubs whose members include students from the respective school.

In a second letter to ministers Okoliyski and Ignatov, the prime minister's adviser proposed the programme "Health through Sport", aimed at preventing childhood obesity, type 2 diabetes and spinal deformities. The initiative envisages the creation of 28 mobile medical teams, the introduction of a digital "Health Passport" for children and the use of earmarked excise revenues to finance the programme.

The proposal also includes health vouchers enabling children with medical needs to attend mass sport clubs, as well as certification of coaches in first aid and response to sports injuries.

The programme further includes measures to promote healthy nutrition in schools, including restrictions on energy drinks, the inclusion of fruits and vegetables in school menus, monitoring of vending machines and the provision of free filtered water near sports facilities. According to the proposals, the implementation of these initiatives would transform schools into centres of health and activity where sport and nutrition are used as tools for prevention, education and social integration of young people.