Ironwill Kids PowerUp!: An innovative school-based program aimed at increasing the consumption of nutrient-dense foods

INTRODUCTION: Public health policy statements have called for an increased focus on consuming nutrient-dense foods including increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. In response to this, Ironwill Kids was created to provide functional nutritional information and develop essential health skills necessary to make decisions and build personal and social competence surrounding eating nutrient-dense foods. Through its innovative PowerUp! program, Ironwill Kids uses relatable characters and a storyline to engage students and to get them to critically think about food and the choices they have. The eight lesson program emphasizes plant-based whole foods and examines the media's impact on students' food choices. METHODS: A pretest-posttest design study was conducted in the fall of 2011 with fourth grade students from a New York City public school. There were 48 students who completed a self-report instrument prior to the program as well as nine weeks later, after the completion of the program. RESULTS: At posttest, students were significantly more likely to recognize the difference between natural and processed foods (p<.001), the importance of eating breakfast (p<.01), and the awareness of the media's influence on food choices (p<.001). In addition, they were significantly less likely to consume processed foods such as sports drinks (p<.01). There were no significant differences by gender. DISCUSSION: Implementing an interactive nutrition program that provides nutritional information in a creative way and develops health skills can be effective in improving many of the targeted outcomes related to increasing consumption of nutrient-dense foods. The results support a broader implementation of the program.