My Healthy World: Beta testing a school health e-curriculum for grades 3-6

My Healthy World (MHW) addresses alarming increases in obesity and type 2 diabetes among youth through a program consisting of three internet-accessible units (Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, and Stay Healthy), each including 12 lessons. The program is designed for Title 1 schools to promote health equity among diverse socio-economic, racial, and ethnic groups.

The objectives of the project were to evaluate all aspects of the recruitment and implementation process as well as the effectiveness of the educational components. MHW was extended to: 1) different regions of the country (Baltimore, MD, Chicago, IL, Hartford, CT, and Phoenix, AZ), 2) different cultures and languages, 3) different ages and grades and 4) different teaching environments. In all, participating teachers in nine schools spread across these cities reported that 601 children participated in the MHW during the 2013-2014 school year. Evaluation efforts included (a) the within-program student tests and quizzes; (b) student questionnaires completed at the completion of the school year; and (c) teacher questionnaires regarding the success and difficulties in implementing a unique and innovative health curriculum in the current national education environment.

This report provides the results of the evaluation on measures of pre- and post-test health knowledge, understanding of technology, self-reported attitudes and behavior, and intent to improve behaviors

The major challenges experienced for MHW included (a) recruiting schools and enrolling students, (b) overcoming implementation challenges including computer scheduling, meeting non-optional educational requirements, and severe winter weather in several of the participating sites.