Healthy Living is CATCHy
Living healthy is catching on among North Dakota schoolchildren thanks to a program by the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
By combining and coordinating health education in the classroom, new physical activity and education programs, and healthier food choices in the cafeteria, the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) program is showing elementary school children in eight schools across the state how to be healthy for the rest of their lives.
Burlington-Des Lacs, Ellendale, Grafton, Hettinger, Kenmare, Killdeer, Lisbon and Turtle Mountain community schools are participating in the program.
“CATCH is unique because all school personnel work together to improve children’s health,” said Nancy Vogeltanz-Holm, Ph.D., associate professor of clinical neuroscience and director of the center in Grand Forks. “The kids have healthier food choices, fun physical activities and classroom education that emphasize life-long health.”
And it seems to be working. After the first year of the program, the center is reporting marked improvements in both physical activity and healthy eating among the children.
Fitness Can Be Fun
Just over 30 percent of the children are reporting watching less television and playing fewer video games. More than a quarter of the students have increased their moderate physical activity while almost 20 percent have increased their vigorous physical activity. The children’s ability to do push-ups, sit-ups and trunk lifts all saw improvements after just one year of the program.
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Sonia Marrone, research associate at the UND medical school’s Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, measures the trunk extension of a student at Burlington-Des Lacs Elementary. |
The variety available with CATCH physical education keeps it fun for the kids, according to Michelle Schilling, physical education teacher at Ellendale Elementary.
“We can use three to four different activities in one class period, and they don’t get bored,” she said. “There’s lots of energy in the games.”
“The kids really love the activities,” agrees Jean Klein, principal of Burlington-Des Lacs Elementary. “You can even find them doing some of the activities on their own during recess.”
Learning about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
“Go,” “Slow” and “Whoa.” With these simple labels on the foods they serve, CATCH schools are teaching even the youngest children about the foods they eat. “Go” foods are lowest in fat and should be eaten more often than the higher-fat “Slow” and “Whoa” foods.
Nearly half of the more than 300 children participating are more knowledgeable of healthy foods and almost 30 percent are eating healthier as well. Many of the students have increased the amount of dairy, grains, vegetables and fruits they eat every day while nearly a quarter of the students have cut down on fats and sweets.
In one CATCH lesson, third graders get to taste-test health snacks that may be new to them, like peanut butter on a celery stick. Fourth graders learn to make their own healthy snacks through a tasting-bee activity where they are encouraged to match different health foods such as cottage cheese on a graham cracker.
“These activities introduce them to healthier snack options than going home and opening a bag of chips,” said Klein. “It gives them an ‘Ah-ha’ moment in their heads.”
“The kids really love the activities. You can even find them doing some of the activities on their own during recess.”
Jean Klein, Principal, Burlington-Des Lacs Elementary |
Healthy Homework
Each of the eight participating schools has a CATCH Team of administration members, classroom teachers, food service personnel, physical education teachers and community members who participated in training and put CATCH into practice in their schools.
“The ideas are not hard to implement, easy to incorporate into the curriculum and the kids really like them,” said Klein.
When reporting to the center’s online evaluation system, Deb DeWald, a third-grade teacher in Ellendale wrote, “The kids were very excited about this new program and all the neat activities they get to do as part of this curriculum.”
Regular classroom CATCH assignments also include take-home activities for parents. Students take home activities to complete with their parents, and receive healthy snack prizes for their family’s efforts.
The educators in Ellendale involved parents from the start by introducing the CATCH program to the community at Parents’ Night. During the evening parents and children enjoyed healthy CATCH snacks and tried out the new CATCH physical education activities.
Schools also find other ways to get parents involved. Monthly newsletters include information about healthy living and parents help with a healthy potluck. Parents also enjoy joining their children at school for physical education class. To further help this process, the center’s staff provides schools with a yearly progress report that includes information prepared specifically for parents and their children.
“Our main message is that we are part of a healthy schools program, and family fitness is part of that,” said Ellendale Elementary Principal Diane Olson.
“The CATCH program has worked well in other U.S. schools, but it is working even better in our North Dakota schools,” said Vogeltanz-Holm. “Our North Dakota educators and parents are dedicated and enthusiastic in implementing the program.”
- Amanda Scurry
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