Scotland A internationalist Stuart Corsar returned home to Aberdeen following Scotland’s triumph in the IRB Nations Cup and wasted no time in championing the importance of healthy eating and leading an active lifestyle at a local primary school.For the Primary five pupils of Woodside Primary School, today (29 June 2009) is their last day of a six-week long programme run in partnership between Scottish Rugby and the Food Standards Agency Scotland (FSA) which is encouraging thousands of youngsters all over Scotland to increase their knowledge of food hygiene, healthy eating and activity levels.Corsar said: “Food hygiene, exercise and healthy eating are three of the most important lessons we can teach kids today.”It’s great to see that through this programme these lessons are reinforced by Scottish Rugby’s development staff nationwide with further learning and exercise using outdoor fun-based rugby activities.”Each week the pupils completed a variety of food hygiene and healthy eating activities, learning how to eat the right balance of foods, and how to handle and store food hygienically and safely.However, it’s not all classroom-based. After completing the classroom activities, the kids join Scottish Rugby coaching staff for practical fun-based rugby sessions which reinforce the lessons learned in the classroom – with Corsar helping out in today’s Woodside session.Development officers like Aberdeen based, Colin Philips, run the programme’s outdoor activities across Scotland and believe that in just two years the programme has already become a resounding success.”Using professional sporting figures is a great way to deliver important food hygiene and healthy eating messages to Scottish school children,” said Philips.”Each outdoor session lasts about 45 minutes with a question and answer section at the end to tie-in what we’ve just finished doing out on the field to link back to the work done in class and re-challenge the pupils on key aspects of the booklet.”The programme also provides us with a great opportunity to get rugby into schools that are new to the sport over a prolonged period – first introducing them to the game and then developing their skills and increasing their interest as the programme develops.”In the past two years, more than 12,000 school children in around 350 primary schools across Scotland have taken part in the Hygiene, Healthy Eating and Activity in Primary Schools (HHEAPS) initiative which is now gearing up for its third year. Colin Thomson, Scottish Rugby’s head of community rugby, added: “Scottish Rugby is delighted to work with the FSA to bring these lessons into the curriculum, meaning that an increased number of school children are getting introduced to more sporting activity, hygiene and healthy eating advice at a crucial part of their lives.”Professor Charles Milne, Director of Food Standards Agency Scotland added: “This is an excellent partnership to help encourage local children to take part in sport as well as learning about how to look after themselves – with lessons about hygiene & healthy eating – important for any youngster, not just the budding sports stars.”Using sports coaches is a great way to motivate kids to learn – helping to reinforce what’s taught in the classroom while at the same time getting them active and exercising. It will also in the long term benefit local and Scottish rugby!”• The HHEAPS initiative followed a successful pilot between FSAS and Aberdeen Football Club in 2005.  HHEAPS was launched with AFC in 2006-07, reaching over 2000 pupils in 40 schools• Year 1 (2007-08): the programme was strengthened by a new partnership with Scottish Rugby and the Scottish FA reaching over 6000 pupils and 270 schools in year• Year 2 (2008-2009): By the end of year two the programme has reached 12372 pupils at 349 schools