Fit Kids at School
The Fit Kids at School program, started in 2012, is a community public health initiative focusing on increasing physical activity and nutrition education during the school day. Northern Arizona Healthcare has committed more than $3 million over the past three years to partner with Arizona schools to help improve the health and wellness of children in our communities by funding staff and equipment as well as healthy resources.
In its first year, Fit Kids at School was instituted at 10 elementary schools in the Flagstaff Unified School District. At the program’s onset, 31 percent of elementary aged children in the Flagstaff district were categorized as overweight or obese. Students were getting an average of 35 minutes of physical education a week. Through the Fit Kids at School program, Flagstaff elementary students’ amount of physical activity during school has increased to 270 minutes a week, or 54 minutes a day. This is just six minutes shy of the 60 minutes of daily activity recommended by Let’s Move and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Through FMC’s commitment, one full-time health aide was hired in each school to supervise and organize structured activities before school and at lunch recess. Additionally, aides have a 30-35 minute special area rotation (similar to art, music or P.E.) of structured activity or wellness education with each class once a week. HOPSports Training Systems, a multi-media physical activity program that includes lessons and activities taught by Olympians, sport celebrities, dancers and professional trainers were also purchased and are used by health instructors in each school.
Three of the 10 FUSD elementary schools have been designated as Fit Kids at School pilot schools. In addition to health aides, Fit Kids pilot schools are testing the effectiveness of Brain Breaks, two to five minute, web-based activity breaks classroom teachers can use to provide additional physical activity during the day.
2012-2013 School Year Outcomes
In its first year, Fit Kids at School was able to provide approximately 331,511 minutes of additional structured activity for students in the 10 FUSD elementary schools.
• 220,449 minutes of classroom instruction delivered during more than 5,190 Fit Kids classes
• 111,062 minutes of structured activity (i.e. kickball, tag, etc.) provided before school and during lunch recess
Additionally, the 10 Fit Kids at School health instructors had approximately 293,933 student encounters through the added structured recess activity and class time.
After seeing positive results from the first year of Fit Kids at School, the program has been implemented at additional elementary and middle schools in Camp Verde, Cottonwood, Flagstaff and Williams. The Fit Kids at School program adapts to each particular school’s needs and because of this it is, although similar, is not identical across all participating schools.
The Fit Kids at School program at the middle school level includes elective courses, weekly pathways courses and structured activity before school, during lunch recess and after school.
2014-2015 Participating Schools
Camp Verde Elementary School, Camp Verde
Cottonwood Elementary School, Cottonwood
Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School, Cottonwood
Cromer Elementary School, Flagstaff
DeMiguel Elementary School, Flagstaff
Killip Elementary School, Flagstaff
Kinsey Elementary School, Flagstaff
Knoles Elementary School, Flagstaff
Leupp Public School, Leupp (FUSD)
Marshall Elementary School, Flagstaff
Puente de Hozho Elementary School, Flagstaff
Sechrist Elementary School, Flagstaff
Thomas Elementary School, Flagstaff
Mount Elden Middle School, Flagstaff
Sinagua Middle School, Flagstaff
Flagstaff High School, Flagstaff
Coconino High School, Flagstaff
Summit High School, Flagstaff
Mountain School, Flagstaff
San Francisco de Asís Catholic School, Flagstaff
Grand Canyon School (K-12), Grand Canyon
Williams Elementary School, Williams
Williams Middle School, Williams
With continued success, we hope to expand the Fit Kids at School program to additional schools and communities across Northern and Central Arizona.
In the program’s third year, Fit Kids at School has expanded to additional elementary, middle and high schools in Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Williams.