 |
|
| |
| Ranking |
Evidence-Based Practice |
| Description |
CATCH aims to improve nutrition and physical activity and decrease tobacco use in students attending kindergarten through 8th grade. This program is conducted in schools and after-school programs, and incorporates familial and community involvement in a comprehensive effort to reduce cardiovascular disease.
The CATCH program is delivered by teachers and after-school coordinators. The curriculum, called Go For Health, teaches students how to identify, practice, and adopt healthy eating habits and engage in physical activity by incorporating hands-on lessons and activities that encourage behavior change.
The physical education component of CATCH consists of specific high energy activities that were designed to keep kids moving while also having fun. The CATCH program also incorporates school cafeterias through their Eat Smart component. Here, school food service personnel help to coordinate healthy messages with the rest of the school while also preparing healthier meals.
The program also involves the family by inviting them to visit the school and engage in the CATCH lessons with their children. The goal is that as parents become educated about nutrition and physical activity they will become motivated to initiate their own behavior change and will in turn have improved the home environment. Additionally, children are required to complete CATCH homework assignments with family members away from school. And because the program is also delivered in after-school programs and summer enrichment programs, they have extended their reach beyond the school and into the rest of the community.
|
| Goal / Mission |
The goal of Coordinated Approach to Child Health is to increase physical activity and encourage healthy food choices while preventing tobacco use in children from kindergarten through 8th grade. |
| Results / Accomplishments |
An evaluation of 3,714 students from the first CATCH cohort reported on the maintenance of improved diet and physical activity three years after participation. The study found that, at baseline, self-reported daily energy intake from fat was 32.7% in the control group and 32.6% in the intervention group. Three years later, intake for the control group was virtually the same at 32.2%; however, intake for the intervention group reduced to 30.3%, a change significant at p<.001.
Although baseline data were not collected on physical activity, the study states that the intervention group reported engaging in significantly more (13.6 minutes; p<.001) minutes of physical activity than the control group after participating in CATCH.
Currently, CATCH is being implemented in 7,500 schools and after-school program in 19 states around the country and in Canada.
|
| Categories |
Health / Exercise, Nutrition, & Weight
Health / Children's Health
Health / Prevention & Safety
|
| Organization(s) |
University of California, University of Texas, Tulane University, and University of Minnesota |
| Source |
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the National Institutes of Health |
| Date of Publication |
1999 |
| Date of Implementation |
1981 |
| Location |
Country: USA |
| Primary Contact |
Philip Nader
9500 Gilman Drive #0927
La Jolla, CA 92093
(619) 681-0666
pander@ucsd.edu
http://www.catchinfo.org/
|
| For more details |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10401802
|
| Target Audience |
Children |
| Back to Promising Practices Home |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
