Childhood obesity has been steadily increasing with estimates today ranging form ten to thirty percent of children. Health People 2010 calls for a reduction overweight/obesity in children ages 6-19 with a goal of 5 percent. This project describes a primary prevention health education program targeted to pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade students in an inner city parochial school. Program objectives focused on both the children and parents, recognizing that children are not often directly involved in household food choices. The program introduces three healthy snacks, in three 45 minute classes, to each of the groups with nutrition education, hands on preparation, and sampling of the snacks. This program was innovative in two ways. The approach was experiential, allowing the children to not only make “fun” snacks (ants on a log, fruits and veggies with dip, peanut fruit nuggets) but to taste what may have been unfamiliar foods. Secondly, the parents/guardians were mailed postcards for purposes of keeping the parents informed of the teaching and activities, with the hope of parents reinforcing the content presented in class. Questionnaires were initially sent to the parents of the children involved gathering data on the snacking habits of the children. After the completion of the program, a follow-up questionnaire was sent home asking the parents to report whether they had the healthy snacks at home or if snacking habits had changed. A family night was a part of the plan. Lessons learned from this project will be discussed.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Nutrition, School Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.