INOVA HEALTH SYSTEM : PARTNERSHIP FOR HEALTHIER KIDS : Prevention Program

Community > Partnership For Healthier Kids > Prevention Program

Prevention Program

PHK's Prevention program works with community partners to provide health education activities to children, parents and educators. At its inception in 1997, the Prevention program focused on providing injury and smoking prevention programs. Due to the changing needs of our community, the Prevention program now primarily provides nutrition and physical activity programs. Additionally, the program is charged with monitoring pediatric health trends to identify disparities and make recommendations for program development as needed.

In 2002 the program, in collaboration with the schools systems, community representatives and members of the health community completed a needs assessment. This assessment identified a need for prevention services in *nutrition and physical activity, * mental health and *asthma. PHK, community partners, and an external evaluator helped to develop nutritional & physical activity programs and asthma programs. PHK strives to provide comprehensive prevention services to educators, parents and children in these key health areas.

Nutrition and Physical Activity
Partnership for Healthier Kids’ Prevention program currently offers an array of nutrition and physical activity programs. These classes and events are a wonderful way to reinforce Health and Physical Education curricula. Brief descriptions of these programs are listed below. Call and schedule a program for your school today!

Hip & Healthy Challenge
A 3 session nutrition and physical activity program using pedometers and team challenges to motivate students to be active daily. Students are provided with fun and practical activities to try at home. This program is designed for students in grades 2-6.

Pyramid Power
A 5 session comprehensive program on nutrition and physical activity for students. An educator manual and instruction from PHK staff are available to enable teachers to deliver this program to students in their classroom. All activities are based on the food guide and activity pyramids and may also be taught after school by PHK staff. This program is designed for students in grades 3-6.

Food Groups and Fitness, Too!
A 45 minute program on nutrition and physical activity geared towards students in grades K-6

Family Nutrition & Fitness
A 1 hour discussion for parents on creative, economical and quick food preparation tips for the family. Includes instruction on proper nutrition for children and enjoyable ways to get active as a family.

Family Fitness Frenzy
(Appropriate for Family Fitness nights, Wellness events, etc.)
A nutrition display that invites participants to compare oversized vs. appropriate serving sizes of commonly consumed foods, combined with a drink display focused on sugar content and moderation.

Teen Food, Fitness, & Health
A 45 minute interactive forum with discussion about personal eating and exercise habits. Educational components include the food guide and activity pyramids, nutrition label reading, and energy expenditure.

Lunch Hour Nutrition Display
An interactive display appropriate during the school lunch period to help guide students towards making healthy food/drink choices. Students receive take home ideas for packing healthy snacks and lunches.

For additional information on nutrition and physical activity, please check out the following links:

Asthma
COMING SOON! We are excited to announce that PHK will soon offer an asthma program to the community. Until then, please check out the following links for information on asthma:

Mental Health

National Health Observances Calendar
The Events Calendar and Companion were developed to help you plan and conduct creative nutrition education activities that support healthy school meals. The Calendar lets you see at a glance the many opportunities for coordinating nutrition education with events throughout the year, and the downloadable Companion files - offering activities, handouts and recipes - can help you bring your ideas to life.

We wish you an exciting and successful year as we continue working together toward our goal - healthy children.

2008 National Health Observances Calendar

The United States Department of Agriculture and The Food and Nutrition Service provide information at the following Web site link.

Volunteers Needed
If you want to be involved in fun activities and give something back to the community, join PHK and participate in many outstanding events in your neighborhood. Contact PHK at 703-321-1993 or e-mail PHK@Inova.org for more information and a calendar of events.

Donations
Your generosity will help to improve the health and well-being of many children in our community. To make a donation, contact Corinne Habel, Director of Development, Community Health, at 703-218-8511.