LONGMONT -- Sue Knaus' kindergartners might be the healthiest 5- and 6-year-olds at Mountain View Elementary.
In February, Knaus' class started the Healthy Learning Paths program, which was developed to teach kids from pre-kindergarten through third grade about the importance of nutrition and healthy habits.
Wednesday, the students learned about the importance of a healthy breakfast.
Students guessed what common breakfast foods were healthy or unhealthy, read a book about making whole wheat pancakes, and made fruit and yogurt parfaits.
Healthy Learning Paths, a Westminster-based nonprofit, was started in 2005 by Dr. Chris Marchioni of Kaiser Permanente and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
If you go
What: Fourth Annual Frank Shorter RACE4Kids' Health 5K
When: 7:30 a.m. Sunday, April 14
Where: 1stBank Center, Broomfield
Parts of the Healthy Learning Paths program, which includes 11 lessons about healthy eating, exercise and hygiene, already have been implemented in Eagle Crest Elementary and Rocky Mountain Elementary schools. But Knaus' class will be the first in the St. Vrain Valley School District to complete the full curriculum.
Dwindling school budgets are the biggest hurdle for integrating the program into local schools, proponents said.
The full curriculum costs about $3,000 per class, said Dr. Heather Isaacson, a pediatrician at Longmont Clinic who sits on the board of directors for Healthy Learning Paths.
"We have 25 schools on the waiting list, so I suggested that we need to find sponsors to provide the funding," Isaacson said. "It costs money to run the program, so we can't do it for free."
The cost includes course materials, healthy snacks and nutrition specialists who teach the lessons.
The organization is seeking sponsors to cover the cost of the program in Longmont schools. For more information on sponsoring a class, email firstname.lastname@example.org.
The Mountain View class is sponsored by the Longmont Clinic, but Knaus said she would like to see all the school's kindergartners in the program next year.
The program also provides lessons to parents about how to help their kids make healthy choices. A handful of parents showed up to Wednesday's lesson to learn about how breakfast affects their kids' energy and mood throughout the day.
Marchioni and Isaacson said that bringing healthy skills to the classroom on a frequent basis will make an impact that physicians can't make through the limited contact of annual visits with their patients.
The hope is that repeating the information will help kids remember what they're learning and increase the likelihood they will take their knowledge home with them. The ultimate goal is to prevent chronic illness by teaching healthy habits at a young age.
"By teaching them these healthy habits early on, we're fighting against larger issues like mental health problems," Marchioni said. "'Healthy is the new happy' is our motto."
Whitney Bryen can be reached at 303-684-5274 or email@example.com.