Wellness Program Implementation: School & Student Toolkits

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application, in response to PAR 10-038, will evaluate of an implementation model that engages high school students in Wellness Council planning to achieve obesity-related health recommendations. The implementation planning will apply a participatory action research approach to empower students as stakeholders and to facilitate collaborative planning by school Wellness Councils, facilitated and supported by the HealthCorps coordinators. To facilitate achievement of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, we will implement a process to enable schools to select toolkit strategies and elements from evidence-based curricula (e.g., Physical Activity for Teenage Health (PATH), which includes implementation strategies using low-cost resources). The 2010 Dietary Guidelines obesity-related behavioral recommendations for youth include: decreasing sugary beverage intake; increasing frequency of breakfast; increasing vegetable and fruit intake to 2 1/2 cups per day with fill half your plate with fruit and veggies educational message; decreasing frequency of fast food meals; becoming physically active (goal of 1 hour per day); and reducing sedentary behavior time (