Winning With Wellness

The Winning With Wellness (WWW) project included the following eight program areas: nutrition services, health education, physical education, school health services, counseling and psychological services, healthy school environment, school site health promotion for staff, and family and community involvement. The nutrition services component consisted of the Go, Slow, and Whoa program. This program categorizes food into three main groups using traffic lights as a metaphor: green (i.e. fruits and vegetables), yellow (i.e. grains), and red (i.e. candy). School menus were analyzed and suggestions were made on ways to make them healthier. Health education consisted of bringing in professionals from Tennessee’s America on the Move program to train teachers in the Balance First program. The Balance First program instructs teachers in energy balance and how to use a pedometer. WWW created indoor trails to promote physical activity in winter weather. Teachers were trained and taught Move it Moments, which is a combination of desk-side stretching, strengthening, and aerobic exercises.

School Health Services and Psychological Services helped measure student’s BMI and provided parents with information regarding their child’s weight status and screening results. To create a healthy school environment, WWW replaced soda vending machines with water and non-fat or low-fat milk. Guidelines were also suggested for food served in the classrooms. School site health promotion for staff consisted of a wellness initiative for teachers and staff members to improve their own health. Family and community involvement required that teachers send home handouts coinciding with health topics covered in class, and encouraged parents to volunteer in the cafeteria to aid students in making healthy food choices.

The goal of the Winning With Wellness (WWW) project is to promote physical activity and healthier eating habits in order to reduce and prevent childhood obesity.

School wellness programs that are acceptable to teachers and utilize some already existing resources can create impact for rural youth by improving nutrition offerings in school and increasing physical activity during the school day.

This program used a prospective cohort study as its study design. 114 third and fourth grade students participated in the study along with 98% of the school’s teachers. Teacher surveys show that following implementation of the program, students consumed much healthier food and drinks, and there was a significant decrease in the number of “whoa” foods purchased in the cafeteria. Surveys and pedometer data confirmed an increase in physical activity of students during school hours. Another improvement was teacher’s increased support for healthier nutrition and increased physical activity in schools.

Health effects of this program were observed through measures of BMI, survey observations, cafeteria records, and pedometer data. While there was very little change in BMI, pedometer data of 48 third and fourth grade students showed an increase of 886 steps per day (p < 0.001). Records from the cafeteria reported significantly fewer “whoa” foods offered (p < 0.001) and purchased by or served to students (p < 0.004) after program implementation.