General Mills Champions Youth Nutrition and Fitness Grant Winners 2003 Project Summaries
The ADA Foundation, in partnership with the General Mills Foundation and the President’s Challenge program, is proud to announce the recipients of the Champions Youth Nutrition and Fitness 2003 Grants. Fifty nonprofit community groups across the country were awarded grants totaling $500,000 from the General Mills Foundation to support innovative programs to help children develop good nutrition and physical fitness habits that will last throughout their lives. For information concerning the 2004 Champions Grants, contact Elisabeth Puga at 312/899-4803 or epuga@eatright.org.
Team Nutrition
Hayes Middle School
Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
Team Nutrition targets sixth-grade students, ages 10-12, in a program that integrates nutrition and fitness concepts into the existing curriculum of nine weeks each of health education, physical education, keyboarding and technology and art. To involve families and reinforce nutrition and fitness at home, the program will include a twice-annual evening nutrition and fitness class in English and Spanish, an annual after-school program for families in the school's exercise room and a bimonthly nutrition and fitness newsletter.
A Chance for Change
Sheridan County 4-H Council/Wyoming Girls School
Sheridan, Wyoming
A Chance for Change is a comprehensive daily nutrition and physical activity program targeted to 90 at-risk girls ages 12-19 residing in a state correctional facility. The program will use educational materials and videos to introduce nutrition concepts such as dietary guidelines, food safety and sanitation and substance abuse and nutrition. Nutrition information also will be included in health and science classes and be posted in all of the facility's dorms. The physical activity portion of the program will provide indoor exercise equipment and offer sports including ice-skating, ice hockey and horsemanship.
Osage Nation Head Start
Osage Nation
Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Focusing on children ages 3-5, the Osage Nation Head Start will use its Native American culture as a way to incorporate more physical activity in the classroom. Participating children will learn native dances that use music and movement for large-muscle development and will also increase their intake of fruits and vegetables through an expanded salad service on the Head Start menu.
Kids SHINE Club
The Children's Hospital and Baker Middle School
Denver, Colorado
The Kids SHINE Club, an educational club that uses a quarterly newsletter to teach safety, health, injury prevention, nutrition and exercise for elementary-school children throughout Colorado, will implement an after-school program at Baker Middle School that includes nutrition, physical activity and peer leader components. The nutrition component will focus on increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables while decreasing fat intake, with club members helping to effect positive change in the food options offered by the school. The physical activity component incorporates enjoyable activities like beanbag games, parachute play, jogging games and dances from around the world to encourage students to become more active. Peer leaders will participate in training to help them teach other students, as well as gauge the "cool factor" of the proposed material.
NEETO (Nutrition Exercise Education Training of Orlando)
Inner-City Games
Orlando, Florida
The first program of its kind in the Orlando area, NEETO will equip children ages 5-10 with knowledge on nutrition and physical activity through a weekly, 90-minute class over a four-month period. Nutrition concepts will focus on the food pyramid and the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, while the physical activity program will combine various games with nutrition education and include pre- and post-program testing. Special events will include guest presenters for Chef Day and Athlete Speaker Day, as well as a closing Olympics and nutritional picnic for students and their families.
Chambersburg Kids TAKE 10!TM
Healthy Communities Partnership of Greater Franklin County Inc.
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
Chambersburg Kids TAKE 10!TM for 5-10-year-olds will feature the use of TAKE 10!, the International Life Sciences Institute Center for Health Promotion's classroom-based physical activity program. Asking participants to add at least 10 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily, TAKE 10! integrates physical activity with grade-specific academic objectives to reinforce required learning in language arts, math, science and other areas. Positive nutritional messages are conveyed through cartoon characters, The OrganWise Guys and incentives are provided through class tracking charts, stickers and activities such as a jump-rope contest and school walk. Participating children's families receive information on such nutritional concepts as the Five a Day campaign to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.
A Healthier You
Girls Scouts of Mid-Continent Council Inc.
Kansas City, Missouri
Through A Healthier You, troops of junior Girl Scouts ages 8-11 will receive kits designed to improve troop members' calcium intake and physical activity levels with the goal of earning the "A Healthier You" Girl Scout badge. Kits include pedometers or step counters for each girl, a leader's guide to help teach girls about the importance of calcium and exercise in building strong bones, charts to keep track of daily calcium consumption and total steps walked and pre- and post-project attitudinal surveys.
Food is Fuel
Lakewood Elementary School
St. Petersburg, Florida
Students ages 8-11 participating in Food is Fuel will be introduced to The OrganWise Guys, a cartoon character-based program that teaches how the body responds to lifestyle factors including healthy food choices, sufficient water consumption and regular exercise. Through journaling, students will document food intake, plan future meals, track physical activities and evaluate their progress. A nine-station fitness trail on the school grounds will provide a supportive, non-competitive environment for teaching students that regular exercise can be pleasant, inexpensive and varied.
Healthy Youth of All Shapes and Sizes
Camp Kidwell and Allegan County 4-H Clubs
Allegan, Michigan
Healthy Youth of All Shapes and Sizes, a one-week, intensive residential camp program, helps children ages 8-12 and their families learn more about nutrition and physical activity choices and establish a benchmark for follow-up through the 2003-04 academic year. Though weight loss will be acknowledged as a possible outcome, the emphasis is on identifying and pursuing lifestyle changes that nurture healthy eating and appropriate levels of physical activity. The camp will feature an array of physical activities and games, healthy nutritional choices, a chance for participants to assist with menu choices and food preparation and informational programs and activities for parents and families. To build on what is learned at the camp, staff will serve as mentors to camp attendees during the next academic year.
Middle School on the MoveTM
Alliance for Health Promotion
Boston, Massachusetts (program to be held in Pueblo, Colorado and Indianapolis, Indiana)
Middle School on the MoveTM is a classroom-based physical activity program promoting a goal of 10,000 or more steps per day or an increase of at least 2,000 steps per day over an established baseline. Program components include digital step counters for each student and teacher, plus a teacher implementation manual including resources, a letter to parents, student-tracking sheets, tips for lesson integration, classroom tracking posters and incentives. A nutrition component promotes the benefits of eating a healthy daily breakfast that includes whole-grain foods and choices from other food groups. Students who are active for 60 minutes per day or 11,000 steps five days a week will be eligible for the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award.
Sprouting Wings: Youth Stewardship Garden
Prevent Child Abuse Oconee County/Communities in Schools
Seneca, South Carolina
To be developed near two Seneca schools, Sprouting Wings: Youth Stewardship Garden will be a community garden where underserved youth ages 5-14 will discover how nutritious foods are grown, harvested and prepared. Using older children as mentors and role models, the garden will engage children in the excitement of growing and consuming their own fruits and vegetables; teach children how to use fresh garden produce as ingredients in after-school snacks, then produce a cookbook featuring the recipes they used for those snacks; increase physical activity through age-appropriate gardening activities; expand parental involvement by inviting parents to share a celebratory meal prepared by the students; and foster a stewardship or caretaking attitude toward our bodies and the earth.
Wolfe's Neck Farm's Education Programs
Wolfe's Neck Farms
Freeport, Maine
Wolfe's Neck Farm, a 600-acre non-profit community farm which builds partnerships with schools, community organizations and families to teach about sustainable agriculture, will add specific nutrition and physical activity objectives to all its education programs to help children ages 4-14 and their families change lifestyle behaviors. Wolfe's Neck Farm will redesign its field trip, summer camp and weeklong "farm school" programs, as well as its seasonal family events, to integrate a healthy snack (such as locally raised apples or winter greens) and moderate physical activity (such as farm work, hiking or trail work) into each activity.
Shape Up Somerville - Audio Adventures
Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University
Boston, Massachusetts (program to be held in Somerville, Massachusetts)
Shape Up Somerville--Audio Adventures, a community-based obesity prevention intervention targeting 6-8-year-olds, will include a series of 20 audio announcements to be broadcast over 10 elementary schools' public address systems during the 2003-04 academic year. The 30-60-second announcements include nutrition messages and motivators for physical activity that tie into the larger Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart. Play Hard. intervention, which uses elements of the USDA's Eat Smart. Play Hard. campaign.
Health First Wellness Technology Program
Rupert A. Nock Middle School
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Building on a "fitness for life" theme over the past eight years, the Rupert A. Nock Middle School's wellness team has substantially reduced the number of students who fall into 85th or greater percentile body mass index, improved students' measurable strength and endurance and decreased students' fat consumption while boosting consumption of fruits and vegetables. The Health First Wellness Technology Program will provide the technical support needed for more in-depth assessment of students' health and fitness, including tracking fitness and heart rate improvements and documenting class and school fitness levels. Using this information, the wellness team can identify areas of concern and design custom exercise and meal plans to address these concerns.
Fun, Food and Fitness
Benedictine University
Lisle, Illinois (program to be held in West Chicago, Illinois)
Designed for 8-11-year-olds, Food, Fun and Fitness provides several avenues of nutrition and fitness education. A 21-hour summer session will employ active learning techniques and hands-on activities such as identifying higher-fat foods through texture, planning and making snacks, measuring heart rate, monitoring steps and applying basic food science through mini-experiments. As children "play with their food" in a targeted and supervised manner, they learn nutrition and skills such as sanitation and basic food preparation. Bulletin board messages, parent newsletters and student self-monitoring reinforce the program's nutrition and fitness messages.
Fitness Authority, Etc.
Boys and Girls Club of Langlade County
Antigo, Wisconsin
Using components of the nationally recognized Fitness Authority program, the Boys and Girls Club of Langlade County will expand its cooking class to focus on meal planning and a healthy balance of foods. The club also will add a weight-training class, summer Olympics program and dance and aerobic instructor and include wall-climbing, rollerblading and skateboarding outings in its offerings. Club programs focus on many learning styles to reach a diverse group of children ages 10-14 and stress hands-on learning. Children also are encouraged to create their own fitness clubs, such as ping-pong clubs and dance groups.
Strive for FIVE! (Families Increasing Vegetables, Fruits and Exercise)
Mecklenburg Council on Health and Fitness
Charlotte, North Carolina
To be offered during seven-week summer day camps operated by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools After-School Enrichment Program, the Strive for FIVE! pilot program will encourage children ages 5-12 to consume five servings of fruits and vegetables and walk 10,000 steps or five miles each day. The program will increase children's consumption of fruits and vegetables through camp-provided snacks, promote daily walking programs during the camp, institute a daily "Lap Club" to encourage parents and children to walk together, provide newsletter articles offering strategies for increasing vegetable and fruit intake and evaluate the summer program to make it available this fall to other school- and community-based programs.
Signs for Life Program: A Children's Roadmap to Nutrition and Fitness
YMCA of Florida's First Coast Inc.
Jacksonville, Florida
Signs for Life Program: A Children's Roadmap to Nutrition and Fitness is an age-appropriate, game-like program that follows children grades 1-5 on a "roadtrip" of nutritional choices and fitness activities. Graphically striking wall maps present opportunities for creative learning and decision-making. "Traffic signals" indicate food choices, "street signs" represent activity choices, "destinations" serve as incentives and rewards and "tollbooths" are used to progress to new destinations. Children earn "toll tokens" by demonstrating healthy eating and activities recorded in their "travel journals." With teachers as navigators and parents/caregivers as passengers (partners), participating children initiate their own paths to wellness.
Crunch and Munch
Fund for Public Schools Inc./Public School 142
New York, New York
Crunch and Munch is an early intervention program targeted to 3-6-year-olds in Head Start, prekindergarten, kindergarten and special education classes. The program aims to help young students and their parents become familiar with and motivated to eat a variety of nutritious foods, through hands-on tasting; preparing and cooking foods; making field trips to the grocery store and the kitchen of a local restaurant; and developing a cookbook in English and Spanish that includes nutrition information, recipes and home activities that mirror classroom activities. Parents join their children to cook and taste food, as well as attend special workshops on nutrition and physical fitness.
Get in Motion!
The Food Trust
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Using an innovative exercise strategy, "Nutricizing," Get in Motion!, an after-school program for children ages 5-14, integrates nutrition education with physical activity. Physical activities include a nutrition theme or component such as the "Nutrition Twister" game, with the goal of having students participate in individual or group exercise activities for at least 30 minutes per day. Students also learn proper serving sizes and the Food Guide Pyramid, see how to prepare a culturally diverse range of nutritious snacks and meals and discover healthy fast-food options. They also host community health fairs to engage other students through activities, displays and handouts. In some cases, students use vacant land to create community gardens growing fruits and vegetables they then sell or give away along with nutrition educational materials they have designed.
Nutrition Under Ten: Eating, Moving, Growing (NUTMEG)
Cornell Cooperative Extension, Tioga County
Owego, New York
NUTMEG is a free program available to youth ages 3-5 and their families through Tioga County Family Resource Centers--free community centers for all families with young children--and to youth ages 5-8 involved in Cloverbud 4-H programs. This unique physical activity and nutrition education program empowers community members to take an active role in their health through "Sport for All," a program of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education and a nutrition education learning program of the Cornell Cooperative Extension's Nutrition and Wellness Program.
Eat Right--Play Hard with the YMCA!
Tuckahoe Family Branch, YMCA of Greater Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Eat Right--Play Hard, an eight-week program designed to be easily implemented into YMCA after-school care programs, offers a solid, week-by-week curriculum to incorporate a fitness and healthy nutrition educational component into programs for children ages 5-11. Included are three "fun fitness" activities per week, one "tasty nutrition activity" per week, informational handouts, family involvement tracking sheets and an ongoing incentive program.
Children's Garden
Williamson County and Cities Health District
Round Rock, Texas
Building on the Williamson County and Cities Health District program of community gardens, the Children's Garden will provide an opportunity for hands-on learning about how plants grow, where food comes from and other lessons in healthy eating, lifetime physical activity and earth-conscious living for children under age 5. The garden will include a planting station, fruit orchard, butterfly garden, worm farm, hydroponics garden, windmill, nature trails and play area.
To'Hajiilee Behavioral Health System - Traditional Navajo Nutrition and Fitness Program
Canoncito Band of Navajos
To'Hajiilee, New Mexico
The innovative To'Hajiilee Behavioral Health System--Traditional Navajo Nutrition and Fitness Program targets local youth ages 2-20 using traditional Navajo foods and a fitness lifestyle to increase healthy eating habits and encourage a more active way of life. Youth will experience traditional Navajo foods they have never tasted, participate in an after-school traditional food preparation series and Navajo running ritual for ceremonial purposes and join nature hikes to pick native plants and herbs for nutritional uses.
Way to Go Kids!TM
Foundation for Health Inc. (on behalf of the Owensboro Mercy HealthPark)
Owensboro, Kentucky
Way to Go Kids!TM recognizes that kids come in all shapes and sizes, but size is determined by the amount and kinds of food we consume. This program for 9-13-year-olds, which emphasizes stopping weight gain while maintaining normal growth and development, includes a fitness component and information for parents at home. The program is part of a full continuum of care, including classroom nutrition instruction by school nurses and cardiovascular education provided by physical education teacher; Way to Go Kids!TM is a follow-up component for children identified as at risk for obesity.
Alternatives for Girls
Alternatives for Girls
Detroit, Michigan
Alternatives for Girls, a program providing at-risk, high-risk and homeless girls ages 5-20 with services including emergency shelter and meals, after-school activities, recreational and fitness programs and family-focused services, will infuse nutritional education into its existing programs, including after-school and summer activities, a participant-run food pantry, the Project MOMMA course for pregnant and parenting women and parent talk times/mother-daughter sessions. The program also will enhance its physical fitness offerings, including the Wise Bodies holistic well-being group and the Fitness Club, which offers kickboxing, tai chi, volleyball, swimming and other physical activity options.
Think Detroit Shapes Kids
Think Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Think Detroit, the city's largest provider of youth athletics, will recruit a registered dietitian to advise the program's athletic staff on healthy and safe foods and beverages for athletes ages 5-16. This consultant will speak at coaches' meetings, preparing coaches to instruct their athletes on the benefits of healthy eating. The RD also will help plan nutritious menus for the program's award ceremonies, at which Think Detroit Shapes Kids will bring attention to the healthy cuisine being served and discuss the importance of daily exercise and healthful food choices.
Active Food Friends
San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center
Alamosa, Colorado
Active Food Friends will combine two programs, the Try New Foods Camapaign and the Five-a-Day messages, into a six-week program for Alamosa Head Start children ages 3-5. Children will be exposed to a variety of new foods at each snack time. Families will use pedometers to record their steps and set goals for improvement and families in which more than 75 percent of members meet their goals will earn coupon books for use at the Alamosa Farmers Market. Other program features will include cooking demonstrations and a bilingual "Walking Workbook."
Stepping Out Together
Wasco-Sherman Public Health Department/OSU and Wasco County Extension Service
The Dalles, Oregon
Stepping Out Together is a six-week program helping children ages 2-5 and their parents become active and make good food choices together while having fun. The program includes a nutrition component to promote the use of healthy snacks in daily meal planning, fitness information and an organized group time for walking and playing and a weekly progress check on goals, steps logged and snack diaries. At the end of the six weeks, families may join another session or start their own groups with peer participants.
CHALLENGE!! An Intervention to Promote Healthy Dietary Activity Choices Among Urban Youth
University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation Inc.
Baltimore, Maryland
CHALLENGE!! An Intervention to Promote Healthy Dietary Activity Choices Among Urban Youth is a 12-session invention that uses motivational interviewing and goal setting to help urban youth identify activity and dietary goals for themselves. The program will modify its existing curriculum from a prevention to a treatment program for youth ages 11-14 with body mass indexes at or above the 75th percentile. The program also will shift from an individual to a group format, encouraging youth to learn from one another and view healthy dietary and activity choices as normative. Monthly booster sessions also will be introduced.
LA-ERASE (Louisiana Eat Right and Start Exercising)
New Orleans Dietetic Association
Metarie, Louisiana
The three-phase LA-ERASE program begins with a 3K Walk (including a day of fun and games, plus booths offering health information) for children ages 6-14 in the New Orleans Superdome. Phase Two includes three half-day "Food, Fun and Fitness" days, featuring health fairs, interactive programs and gospel aerobic sessions, to be hosted by area churches and held in local parks. The third phase involves development of an eight-module curriculum providing church nurses with tools for ongoing nutrition and fitness instruction and planned activities for 6-14-year-olds in their congregations.
Smart Minds, Smart Bodies!
Wakita Public Schools
Wakita, Oklahoma
Serving middle- and high-schoolers, grades 5-12, Smart Minds, Smart Bodies! incorporates health and fitness concepts into a variety of subjects. Physical education classes will offer skill-related fitness activities and help students evaluate self-esteem as it relates to physical fitness; health and nutrition courses will cover the food pyramid; anatomy and physiology classes will study body fat and weight gain or loss; chemistry courses will cover electrolytes and body ions as they relate to athletic training; and biology students will examine muscle formation, composition and growth. An additional project, "Learning on a Full Stomach," will emphasize the importance of eating a variety of foods while making students aware of hunger problems within their own community.
Ledyard Middle School Get Healthy Challenge
Ledge Light Health District
Groton, Connecticut
To be kicked off by WNBA player Kara Wolters, the yearlong Ledyard Middle School Get Healthy Challenge will recruit student peer educators to lead a variety of health challenges and activities, including cooking and food preparation demonstrations; lunchtime displays on topics such as portion size, sugar content of foods or blender breakfasts; after-school physical activities; poster contests; and faculty training. Students also will walk across an imaginary Connecticut, using pedometers and maps to record progress and parents will receive a monthly newsletter to help their families make good food and fitness decisions. The challenge also involves policy change initiatives, including reviewing school-sold food items for nutritional standards, limited vending machine access and evaluating the percentage of elective courses that include physical activity.
Happy Feet and Healthy Eats
Colorado Nutrition Network
Fort Collins, Colorado
Happy Feet and Healthy Eats is an awareness, education and activity program for at-risk preschoolers. Focusing both on the children and on their secondary influencers, including parents, Head Start teachers and child-care providers, the program includes a "Food Friends--Making New Foods Fun" nutrition component encouraging children to try new foods and a "Funsical Fitness" component bringing teachers and children together in a 15-minute daily activity session. Parent materials will challenge families to incorporate more physical activity into their lifestyles while purchasing new foods for the entire family to try.
Pass It On: A Community Development Approach to Nutrition and Physical Activity Transformation
Michigan State University Extension--Genesee County
Flint, Michigan
Pass It On: A Community Development Approach to Nutrition and Physical Activity Transformation will form an "education corps" of students ages 14-18 interested in the teaching profession, training them to deliver "Pyramid Between the Pages" curriculum--a unique curriculum linking nutrition and physical activity with literacy--to first-, second- and third-graders. The teens will become proficient in nutrition and physical activity through the process of teaching and internalizing principles for healthy living and elementary students will explore physical activity and nutrition in a fun, nontraditional format conducive to learning and retaining the information. Pass It On motivates children to be active and make healthy food choices while providing the community with role models and future teachers.
Cristo Rey School-Based Nutrition Program
Loyola University Chicago School of Nursing
Chicago, Illinois
The Cristo Rey School-Based Nutrition Program will include a comprehensive evaluation of dietary quality among Hispanic high-school youth, including establishing a baseline through family interviews, physical and biochemical measurements and three-day diet records. Analysis and summary of the data will yield areas to target for future nutrition programs. The program also will provide weekly after-school student groups addressing weight management, diabetes, cardiovascular risk and other topics; offer monthly nutrition activities for families; sponsor nutrition presentations during open periods of the school day; and initiate environmental changes within the school related to nutrition and fitness, such as reviewing cafeteria offerings.
Eat Healthy, Stay Fit
Young Women's Leadership Charter School of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois
Eat Healthy, Stay Fit combines education, behavioral strategies and peer support to promote healthy eating habits and regular physical exercise in young women ages 14-18. Program components include a registered dietitian teaching an interactive nutrition curriculum; student self-assessments and formation of goals and action plans to improve nutrition and fitness; a pedometer-assisted walking program and participation in community fitness activities; and a health fair to increase student-family interactions on nutrition and fitness topics. At the fair, students will take leadership roles in cooking demonstrations; body weight and body fat measurements; literature distribution; and discussions of topics such as the health risks of fast food and high-calorie beverages.
Sports Warrior Challenge Program
Native American Sports Council
Colorado Springs, Colorado
The Sports Warrior Challenge Program is a culturally relevant physical education program to be implemented in six New Mexico elementary schools with large Indian populations. The program promotes increased physical fitness through goal setting and incentives, incorporating traditional and non-traditional games and activities such as pow-wow and social dancing. Since diets high in fat are prevalent in Native American communities, in contrast to the traditional native diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, nutrition and healthy eating habits also are an important part of the Sports Warrior curriculum.
Bake and Shake: Promoting Healthful Cooking and Physical Activity
Kansas Dietetic Association Foundation/Heartland Programs
Topeka, Kansas
Targeting low-income preschool students and their families, Bake and Shake: Promoting Healthful Cooking and Physical Activity teaches parents basic nutrition concepts while showing the whole family how to enjoy physical activity together. The program consists of six sessions, each with a cooking and fitness activity for children and adults to share. At each session, a registered dietitian shows parents how to prepare a healthful main course, while preschoolers are engaged in a separate activity. While the main course is cooking, a fitness professional leads adults and preschoolers in a family fitness activity; afterward, the group eats together. Families also receive free ingredients needed to duplicate the meal at home. After the initial six weeks, Heartland Programs home visitors continue the program through home visitations.
Intergenerational Health Support
University of California Cooperative Extension, Riverside County
Oakland, California
Intergenerational Health Support seeks to improve the nutrition and fitness of children ages 9-12 who are being raised by their grandparents. Using materials from the Five-a-Day Power Play curriculum for nutrition and the President's Challenge for physical activities, the eight-week program will focus on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption and promoting an active lifestyle through weekly meetings that help participants set goals and increase knowledge in a supportive environment.
Stepping Up Physical Activity and Nutrition Practices Among North Dakota Youth
North Dakota 4-H Foundation
Fargo, North Dakota
Stepping Up Physical Activity and Nutrition Practices Among North Dakota Youth is a two-part program intended to educate both high school and elementary-age students about nutrition and physical activity, focusing on heightened consumption of fruits and vegetables and increasing daily number of steps taken to 10,000. Part I uses a technology-based group decision-making process for 80 high-achieving high-school students; their input will be incorporated in the second half of the project for elementary students. Part II uses information gleaned from the high-school students to target Native American children grades K-6 on a North Dakota reservation. The younger students will receive classroom instruction and activities led by older mentors, an assessment of the school nutrition and physical activity environment, educational activities in the school cafeteria and nutrition and physical activity information for the children's parents or caregivers.
5 A Day + (5" x 5 A Day) = F.U.N. Fitness Unlocks Nutrition
Braham Area Schools
Braham, Minnesota
Through the 5 A Day + (5" x 5 A Day) = F.U.N. Fitness Unlocks Nutrition program, fifth- through ninth-grade students at Braham Area Schools will be asked to set individual goals to increase the number of times per week they participate in fitness activities and to increase their individual aerobic fitness by 5-10%. Participants will be challenged to do 25 minutes of aerobic exercise each day (5" x 5 A Day). The program's nutrition component will include direct instruction on the importance of choosing five fruits or vegetables per day, encouraging students to increase their consumption of these foods by 5-15%. They will then teach what they have learned to a wider audience by developing nutritional media messages for peers, elementary students and the greater Braham area and by starting a fruit and juice bar to offer healthy after-school snack options.
Fit to Be Healthy Kids Challenge
Hannibal Community Foundation/Healthy Lifestyles Task Force
Hannibal, Missouri
Targeting children ages 3-5, the Fit to Be Healthy Kids Challenge will assist child-care professionals and facilities by improving their knowledge of preschool nutrition and physical activity needs, then aiding such facilities in developing nutritional and physical activity goals that will increase preschoolers' daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and expand daily movement while decreasing television viewing time. Using "Healthy Lifestyles for Children Nutrition and Physical Activity Kits" compiled from nutrition best-practices curricula, the program will use audio, visual and action learning principles to train teachers, food service staff, families and children on making healthy choices and forming lifelong positive habits in nutrition and physical activity.
Food, Fun and Fitness
Richland County Consortium After-School Program
Wahpeton, North Dakota
Countering the isolation imposed by rural life, the challenge posed by a cold climate and the lack of fitness centers or registered dietitians in the Richland County area, Food, Fun and Fitness will provide children grades K-12 and adults with the opportunity to participate in consistent fitness activities and nutrition classes at six rural school sites. Encouraging participants to qualify for Presidential Active Lifestyle Awards, the program challenges its members to complete a minimum of 45 minutes of fitness activities four or more times per week. A nutrition education program, offered once per week for students and once per month for adults, includes the opportunity to make and sample nutritious snacks.
Get Up and Go
Clinton County Health Department
Plattsburgh, New York
Aimed and middle- and high-school students, Get Up and Go will encourage youth to eat breakfast and to engage in a physically active lifestyle by offering on-site, portable breakfast choices and providing incentives for participating in a 10,000-step program. The "Get Up and Go Cart" will carry nutritious breakfast items including milk, cereal, cereal bars, yogurt, fruit and juice and be the focal point for distribution of pedometers and step logs.
Fit for Life Kids
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia
Fit for Life Kids will use nutrition and wellness extension agents throughout the state to recruit and train child-care providers on childhood obesity, nutrition and physical activity while distributing two types of educational kits with parental take-home activity bags. One of the two kits focuses on increasing preschoolers' consumption of foods from the breads, cereals and grains group; the other highlights physical activity needs of children ages 3-5. Kits will contain children's books, lesson plans, supplemental background information, food models and inexpensive sports equipment. The parental take-home bags will elicit interaction between parents and children through educational activities and resources that encourage whole-family participation in nutrition and physical activity.
O'odham Ha'icu Ha-cicwidag (O'odham Traditional Games and Health)
Tohono O'odham Community Action
Sells, Arizona
O'odham Ha'icu Ha-cicwidag promotes physical fitness and healthy eating habits among tribal youth ages 8-20 in a culturally appropriate manner. The program seeks to revitalize traditional athletic competitions, including toka (a traditional field hockey game played by girls and women), songwul (traditional kickball races for boys and men) and long-distance relay races. O'odham Ha'icu Ha-cicwidag also aims to increase consumption of traditional foods which have been shown to prevent and help treat Type II diabetes.
KidFit
Idaho Food Bank
Boise, Idaho (program to be held in Marsing, Idaho)
Targeting children ages 5-10, KidFit will provide opportunities for organized, focused fitness and nutritional activities for low-income children, including those in rural areas and provide nutritious snacks as participating children learn about fitness and nutrition. The only program of its kind in the state, KidFit is an opportunity for community partnerships that focus on nutrition and fitness and the chance to build a sustainable nutrition and fitness program owned by the Marsing community. KidFit will incorporate partners from academia, government, community groups and schools to administer the program, as well as collect and analyze data to measure the effect of a rural fitness and nutrition program on dietary habits, social skills, self-esteem and physical fitness.
Fit Factor 5
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles, California
Five elementary, middle and high schools' Nutrition Advisory Councils (NACs) will participate in the pilot Fit Factor 5 program, receiving physical fitness kits containing items such as balls, cones and jump ropes to be used in the design of school-specific fitness program. After NAC teacher-advisors attend a training program and share what they have learned with students, each school will develop five activities as part of its program, four of which must use the items in the physical activity kit and one of which must require no equipment. Ongoing support will be provided to schools by LAUSD's registered dietitians, registered nurse/certified aerobics instructor and other professionals. At year's end, participating schools will present their fitness programs in an LAUSD award competition.
CATCH Kids of Downeast Maine
Healthways /Regional Medical Center at Lubec Inc.
Lubec, Maine
CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) Kids of Downeast Maine is intended to increase physical activity and improve nutrition among children grades K-8. Targeting both children's behaviors and the school environment--including classroom curricula adaptations, food service modifications, physical education changes and family reinforcement--CATCH is designed to help students participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity, establish healthful eating habits with awareness of the importance of low-fat and low-sodium choices and refrain from smoking. Components include CATCH PE, a physical education program offering a variety of classroom, outdoor and recreational activities; a heart health program that combines classroom instruction and family activities; and an "Eat Smart" school nutrition program guide to provide children with tasty, lower-fat, lower-sodium cafeteria meals while maintaining required nutrients and student interest.