Background: We present results of the development and feasibility testing of CATCH Healthy Smiles, a school-based oral health program, among children in grades K-2 in Houston, Texas. Methods: Study design was cross-sectional (N = 2 schools; N = 125 parent-child dyads; 31 kindergarteners, 42 first graders, and 52 second graders). CATCH Healthy…

A school-based nutrition education intervention was implemented with second and third graders who used their functional health literacy skills of reading, writing, and speaking to learn about the MyPlate food model from the United States Department of Agriculture. The pretest-posttest intervention determined if children had ever seen the MyPlate…

Purpose/Objectives: This study investigates the effect of meal component changes by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) on school lunch quality and consumption in elementary school students, grade 2-5 before and after the HHFKA guidelines were implemented in July 2012 using the Healthy Eating Index. Methods: In Spring 2012, before…

Objectives: Many school-aged children do not meet the daily minimum recommendations for accruing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and spend much of their day sedentary. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teacher-delivered classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) on students' MVPA and sedentary behaviors.…

The Eagle Adventure program was designed as a semester-long, SNAP-Ed program to address food and physical activity choices important for prevention of type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other chronic diseases. The program was developed for implementation in Grades 1-3. This article presents findings from two participating grade centers inclusive of…

By now, we are all aware of the effect of super-sized food portions. Very young children regulate their food intake by internal cues (when they feel full) rather than by portion size. As children age, external cues have more influence than internal cues. Hence, larger portion sizes promote more energy intake in older children, leading to caloric…

While school gardens are familiar in many Western contexts and research has reported significant pedagogical and affective is correct benefits of these resources, there is limited reporting of their use in non-western contexts. A pilot school gardening project involving a quasi-experimental mixed method design was undertaken in the Sultanate of…

Purpose/Objectives: Existing research has investigated the effects of using individual incentives and positive reinforcements to influence children to eat more fruits and vegetables for lunch and snack during school. This study explored using group-level incentives to motivate children in a Wisconsin elementary school to eat more fruits and…

New Jersey After 3 (NJ After 3) is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to expand and improve afterschool opportunities for New Jersey's youth. Using both public and private resources, it supports a network of youth-service providers that deliver afterschool services based on NJ After 3's program model. Under an agreement with NJ…

Because one in three children is already overweight or obese, school-based interventions targeting secondary obesity prevention merit consideration. This study assessed parent interest in participating in a school-based, school nurse-led weight management program for young school-aged children. A random sample of parents ("n" = 122) of…

Improving children's nutrition and physical activity have become priorities in the United States. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the longitudinal effects of a 3-year, school-based, health promotion intervention (i.e. nutrition and physical education, classroom physical activity, professional development and health promotion for teachers…

High levels of physical inactivity are evident among many American children. To address this problem, providing physical activity (PA) during the school day within the CSPAP framework, is one strategy to increase children's PA. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a classroom-based PA program on children's PA. Two hundred…

Fun with Foodella is a nutrition and physical activity workbook designed for elementary-aged youth. The objective was to determine if the Fun with Foodella program increased participant preference for fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, and physical activity. Four intervention (53 students) and four control (68 students) schools…

Research has shown that regular physical activity helps to prevent major health problems, such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. However, little research has been conducted on classroom-based physical activity programs for students with disabilities. In North Carolina, the Healthy Active Children Policy was implemented in 2006, requiring…

Elementary school age children engage in levels of physical activity that are well below recommended guidelines. It has been suggested that classroom teachers can assist in remedying the problem by providing physical activity breaks and physical activity embedded in instruction. This study utilized the instrument, Physical Activity in the…