HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) and SHAN (Student Health Action Network) are two components of a voluntary organization (HRIDAY), involving health professionals and social scientists, that aim to promote health awareness and informed health activism among school and college students.

HRIDAY was born in June 1992 as a response to India’s health transition, wherein altered living habits were leading to rising burdens of heart diseases, diabetes and cancers. Community mobilization through health education is a key element of a comprehensive public health response to this transition and the youth, in particular, had to be assisted in learning to live healthy and stay healthy. Since “HRIDAY” means ‘heart’ in most Indian languages, this served as a useful acronym. This project was initiated by a group of health professionals at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, with the objective of disseminating information related to behaviors which influence health (like diet, physical activity and avoidance of addictions like tobacco) and the disorders caused by unhealthy behaviors (such as heart diseases, cancers, diabetes and obesity), among school children.

The program targets school going children because behaviors get etched during early school days and can be positively influenced by providing appropriate information in an engaging manner. It was also hoped that students would respond to this learnt information with conviction and commitment for various health issues and serve as effective agents of change in family and community settings. School teachers are also involved in this effort to bring about a positive health behavior change by promoting informed and enabling interactions amongst children.

Objectives of HRIDAY-SHAN: AWARENESS, ADVOCACY, ACTION ON HEALTH

• Promoting awareness and adoption of healthy living habits.
• Positively alter attitudes towards adoption of healthy living behaviors and promote a supportive environment for sustaining such behaviors.
• Encourage students to actively articulate their demands for appropriate governmental policy (legislation/regulation).
• Create a healthy environment at school, home and community levels through partnerships for health action.