Schools Overview

The goal of Healthy Children Healthy Futures is to create a replicable after school program for children and their parents to become advocates – through their schools, families and communities – for healthy eating and physical activity. The HCHF initiative has three components – children, parent and media components. The training includes a curriculum and student workbook on healthy eating, physical activity and the role of children and parents as advocates for healthy food consumption and physical fitness. This program provides an opportunity for training on animation technology and training children to create public service announcements.

At the completion of a 20-week session which is delivered two times per week, a culminating event is recommended at each of the participating after-school programs to showcase lessons learned and the media messages created through the HCHF initiative. The Healthy Children Healthy Futures project is intended for under-served youth, ages 9 to 13, and was piloted in three large US cities – Los Angeles, New York City and Atlanta. In 2005-2006, it was being replicated in four additional cities – Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, and Dallas.

Materials

A Tool Kit features the 8 Habits of Healthy Kids™, a Healthy Eating Kid Packet originally designed for tweens, ages 9-14, and a Facilitator Guide that describes carefully planned sessions for a 12-20 week program with 2-3 sessions per week. Note: Session time can be flexible based on the type of media being developed by the participants.

At each session, it is recommended that children receive a healthy snack (described in the guide) and participate in an “active energizer” physical activity. By the end of the program, young participants will have developed a print, radio, or animation spot for peers, promoting healthy eating and physical activity. In addition, a set of take-home postcards based on the 8 Habits of Healthy Kids™ are provided for parents. There is a pre-post child-healthy questionnaire that can be used to determine program effectiveness.

Training for After-School Staff Facilitators

Facilitators will attend a 1-1/2 day (10 hour) training session* on site on how to deliver the program. Workshops will include:

• The 8 Habits of Healthy Kids™, the cornerstone of Healthy Children Healthy Futures
• An in-depth review of the healthy eating, physical activity and media literacy components
• Technology for creating healthy eating and physical activity print, radio and animated ads
• Evaluation process and measures
• Planning and implementation of a culminating event for children, parents and communities

*If animation technology is not included, the training session is 6 hours (plus lunch break).

In addition, follow-up technical assistance visits can be offered to assist facilitators with the program activities and to assure sustainability of the Initiative.

A 50-question multiple choice survey on the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of eating and physical activity can be administered at the beginning and end of the program.