Page Contents
Overview
Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity
Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change
Intervention Reach and Adoption
Setting: School
Target Audience: Elementary School
Race/Ethnicity: All
Intervention Components
- The 8 Principles of Healthy Living—at least one of which is emphasized in each lesson:
- Make the switch from sugary drinks to water.
- Choose colorful fruits and vegetables instead of junk food.
- Choose whole-grain foods and limit foods with added sugar.
- Choose foods with healthy fat, limit foods high in saturated fat, and avoid foods with trans fat.
- Eat a nutritious breakfast every morning.
- Be physically active every day for at least an hour.
- Limit TV and other recreational screen time to two hours or less per day.
- Get enough sleep to give the brain and body the rest they need.
- The Kid’s Healthy Eating Plate, a visual guide to help encourage children to eat well and keep moving
- 48 lessons that supply students with the knowledge and skills they need for choosing healthy eating and activity behaviors, including:
- 28 Multidisciplinary classroom lessons (14 lessons each for fourth and fifth graders)
- 4 Promotions for the classroom that build on classroom lessons and provide students with the opportunity to put knowledge into practice
- 16 Physical education lessons to compliment a school’s existing physical education curriculum, including the FitCheck tool for self-assessment of activity and inactivity
- Food service guides, recipes, preparation tips, promotional materials, classroom tie-ins and food service staff trainings
- Staff wellness workshops and training materials
- Parent and community involvement guides, parent newsletters, and fact sheets
- School wellness policies and materials
Intervention Materials
Intervention Costs
Evidence Summary
Publications:
Classification: Research-tested
Evaluation Indicators
Readiness and Capacity – Short Term (ST) | Changes – Medium Term (MT) | Effectiveness and Maintenance – Long Term (LT) | Population Results (R) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Individual | ST1, ST3 | MT1, MT3 | ||
Environmental Settings | MT5, MT6 | |||
Sectors of Influence |
Evaluation Materials
However, many individual lessons and components feature tracking tools (i.e. Lesson 20, Go for H2O, provides a beverage tracking activity) and the Physical Activity Fit Check is a tool for self-assessment of activity and inactivity, which teachers and students can use to evaluate how students are progressing.
Additional Information
Contact Person(s):
Brett Otis
Communications Project Manager, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Email: otis@hsph.harvard.edu
Lilian Cheung
Director of Health Promotion and Communication, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Email: lcheung@hsph.harvard.edu
*Updated August 4, 2023