Hosted by OSTEORUS (the All-Russian osteoporosis patient society) this year’s annual Children’s Drawing Contest was held with the theme "We are the Generation of the New Century, the Health of the Planet Is in Our Hands!" The event was timed to coincide with World Osteoporosis Day (WOD) which is held annually on October 20 under the auspices of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). Every year IOF provides national societies with valuable posters, brochures and infographics to raise public awareness about osteoporosis and its prevention. This year the WOD campaign motto is ‘Take Action for Bone Health!’.

Among its many annual WOD campaign events, OSTEORUS devotes its attention to the education of schoolers - and through them their parents and grandparents - about this silent and dangerous disease. The campaign communicates key messages about healthy nutrition and physical activity. The annual children’s drawing contest is one of the most important channels for the communication of these important messages. With the children’s enthusiastic participation in the drawing contest, key information about bone-healthy lifestyles and knowledge about osteoporosis is shared with the entire family and community. 

The participants of the contest this year were children aged from 7 to 15 years from Omsk, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Yakutsk, and Yaroslavl. 

The artwork was evaluated by a jury of representatives from the methodical center of OSTEORUS, the Russian Association on Osteoporosis (RAOP), and teachers of Children’s Art School № 5 in Yaroslavl. All were awarded certificates, the winners receiving diplomas, and the teachers and active community members receiving letters of gratitude. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the award ceremony was transferred to the respective osteoporosis centers which hosted the contest.  

For example, in Yaroslavl, the contest was held with the joint efforts of OSTEORUS,  RAOP, and the Yaroslavl Regional Public Organization ‘Union of Women of Russia’ on the basis of school institutions of the region. The sponsors organized gifts for the winners. In Yakutsk, the competition was held among the children of doctors at the initiative of the osteoporosis research laboratory of M.K. Amosov, the North-Eastern Federal University. In Khabarovsk, the organizers of the creative competition were the Department of Rheumatology and Osteoporosis of the Institute for Advanced Training of Healthcare Employees of IPKSZ. The exhibition of drawings was arranged in the hall of the institution. In Omsk, the competition was organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Health of the Omsk region, RAOP, ‘Medical Union of the Omsk region’, and the Budgetary Educational Institution ‘Clinical Medical-Surgical Center of Health Ministry of the Omsk region’. They provided prizes for the winners. In Ufa, the drawing competition was conducted among the children of employees of the City Clinical Hospital № 21 and the pupils of the elementary school of Dumeyevsky high school of Ilishevsky area. The event was sponsored by Zhilstroyinvest Construction Company.

The children’s drawing contest has been held in Russia since 2014, and since 2015, the winning drawings are used for a calendar, which is traditionally issued by RAOP with experts’ preventive recommendations for patients as well as other educational information.  

OSTEORUS and RAOP would like to express their sincere gratitude to IOF, to the doctors, community members, children and their parents for their activity. They all offered their time and took the opportunity to express in their creative work the important basics of health education - prevention through an active lifestyle and a culture of good nutrition!

IOF thanks Galina Evstifeeva and Victoria Sotskova for sharing the news above. We also thank the children, organizations, and sponsoring companies for their participation and support of this wonderful initiatiave. We hope it will provide inspiration for other patient organizations around the world!