The Steps Program

An Effective Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Description

The Steps Program is combating overweight and obesity in children through school nutrition programs. Steps implements a salad program in school cafeterias to offer students with nutritious prepackaged fruit and vegetable salads. The program educates school administrators about the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption, and trains food service staff to prepare salads. Steps also sets up a farmer's market display each school year to allow students to try different kinds of produce. The program also produces Teen Cuisine, an educational program that partners older students with local chefs to create cooking shows featuring healthy recipes for younger children.

Goal / Mission

The goal of the Steps Program is to encourage healthy eating among elementary school students.

Results / Accomplishments

The salad program has been implemented in 84% of elementary schools, and 90% of students and staff members participate in the farmer's markets. In 2008, more than 3,750 students and staff members increased their intake of fruits and vegetables. Between 2005 and 2008 the percentage of overweight elementary school students significantly decreased from 27% to 19%. The Pinellas County School District was ranked first in the nation by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's School Lunch Report Card in 2007.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Pinellas County Health Department
Primary Contact
No current contact information available
Topics
Health / Children's Health
Health / Physical Activity
Organization(s)
Pinellas County Health Department
Source
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Date of publication
2009
Date of implementation
2005
Location
Pinellas, FL
For more details
http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/states/examples/...
Target Audience
Children

Related Promising Practices

  1. Farm 2 School Lunch Program
  2. School Nutrition Policy Initiative
  3. Promoting Water Consumption in Schools to Prevent Overweight
  4. Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative
  5. School Lunch Initiative
  6. CHOPPS: Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks

More

Related Content for: The Steps Program

An Effective Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success and/or promise in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures of improvement in outcome of interest (i.e. increase in voter registration, not just delivery of voter registration drive) and/ or the outcome measure is increased or improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant.