Available language: Creole

The OrganWise Guys Program (OWG)

The OrganWise Guys Program (OWG) can be delivered via both direct and indirect education including PSE change interventions designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and increase physical activity among participants as well as facilitate PSE changes in the settings in which it is conducted. SNAP-Ed staff or trained classroom teachers provide direct education through various curriculum to youth in childcare and school settings and provide support materials for families. The WISERCISE! program provides 10-minutes of desk-side daily physical activity in the classroom. Foods of the Month helps create a healthy cafeteria environment in schools and during family style eating/snacking in EC Centers via daily nutrition messaging and outreach to parents. The OWG gardening curriculum helps establish gardens while children learn to grow and consume homegrown food. This curriculum focuses on PSE changes by working with school wellness councils to develop policies that address foods served at school events, establish school gardens, and improve and promote school meals/snacks. Partnerships and parent/adult engagement in positive health behaviors can lead to PSE change that is sustainable and beneficial community wide. Indirect education includes a wide variety of behavior tracking tools for use at home to reinforce key messages. All the above items can be delivered in the traditional way using physical items or via the online platform across all target audiences. 

Additionally, The OWG online component allows for projects to collect usage data from all users on the platform. Data collection reports will be available to SNAP-Ed partners which tracks/reports on total time of each session with details on books read, activity sheets/newsletters downloaded, videos watched and physical activity (via new WISERCISE! level).  This usage report can assist with your PEARS reporting.  

 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Fruit and Vegetable Consumption, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance 

Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change 

Mindful Eating in Preschool Setting

Mindful Eating in Preschool Setting (MEPS) is an intervention designed to prevent and reverse childhood obesity, help children develop healthy relationships with food, prevent the development of eating disorders, and instill early taste preferences for diverse healthy foods. MEPS includes training child care centers’ teaching staff on the basics of mindfulness and mindful eating and its implementation in classrooms. Its main premises are removing all distractions (technology, TV, toys) while eating; bringing children’s attention to foods on the table, and talking about foods’ colors, tastes, textures, and origins; engaging children in table setting and cleaning, serving themselves, and helping their peers (elements of family-style dining); encouraging (never forcing) children to try different foods; ensuring mealtimes are always at a table, using plates – never on-the-go; teaching children to eat when hungry, and not to turn to food in distress or when bored. Staff training consists of 3 1-hour training sessions with a follow-up upon need with workshops and technique demonstrations for further implementation in classroom settings.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Eating Smart • Being Active

Eating Smart • Being Active is a direct education healthy eating, active living intervention designed for paraprofessional nutrition educators to use when teaching low-income families to learn healthy lifestyle choices. The curriculum consists of nine core lessons, designed to be taught in order, and three supplemental infant and maternal lessons designed to be taught to pregnant and breastfeeding women. The teaching techniques in the lesson plans of Eating Smart • Being Active are based on adult learning principles, dialogue-based learning and learner-centered education. 

Target Behavior: Breastfeeding, Healthy Eating, Physical Activity

Intervention Type:  Direct Education