5 to Go! : A healthcare provider's approach to promoting childhood wellness in schools

In order to decrease childhood obesity rates, Cleveland Clinic believes that a comprehensive approach across settings is required. Our strategy was to develop 5 to Go! as a school-based, multi-pronged program that promotes healthy living inside and out. 5 to Go! comprises: wellness curricula at the elementary school level (Food is Knowledge® and Healthy Futures); supporting and empowering schools to develop school-wide policy interventions (i.e., Eat Right at School); and data collection, through BMI assessments and program evaluation. Cleveland Clinic explored opportunities and synergies among local efforts and engaged the First Ring Superintendents' Collaborative (FRSC) as partners in 2008. The FRSC represents 16 school districts surrounding the city of Cleveland, comprising approximately 70,000 students. We incrementally implemented components of 5 to Go! throughout the FRSC districts beginning with BMI assessments in 2008-2009 (phase I). The Healthy Choices for Healthy Children Act (OH SB 210) passed in 2010, encourages schools to conduct BMI assessments in kindergarten, third, fifth, and ninth grades and enabled us to longitudinally track BMI percentiles. With 26.7% of kindergartners and 39.1% of fifth graders in FRSC schools at or above the 85th percentile for BMI, the FRSC decided to pilot Food is Knowledge® in at least one classroom in all districts in 2012 (phase II). Eat Right at School provides nutritional criteria (to supplement USDA standards) to help schools provide healthier food options and is being implemented in two schools (phase III). Our efforts are closing the obesity prevention programmatic gap by leveraging resources and maximizing coordination.