Mercy Hospital and Unity Hospital - Healthy School Initiative, aka "Power Hour

What is it?

This program, available free of charge, is a collaboration between Allina Health, local school districts and community organizations that combines an exercise program with nutrition instruction. The program started in one elementary school in 2006 and has expanded across the state of Minnesota and into Wisconsin. In addition, the program has become more comprehensive, including connections with the students’ classroom, the cafeteria, and their families. Lesson topics include portion sizes, how to interpret information on food nutrition labels and understanding how much sugar is in sweetened beverages. The nutrition education and physical fitness program includes a series of one-hour classes. Each class consists of fun hands-on nutrition education followed by fast-paced physical fitness. Students receive a weekly health incentive item such as a pedometer, jump rope or water bottle and a take-home message to encourage ongoing healthful behavior at home.

The Power by the Hour program was designed with flexibility, allowing for implementation during the school day, as an after-school program or within a community organization. The user-friendly design allows the program to be easily replicated by other communities. The program is currently going through a complete re-design and expansion. The expanded curriculum will be appropriate for youth ages 3 to 14 and include a new online array of lessons, activities, resources, recipes and more.

Who is it for?

Power by the Hour is a nutrition education and physical fitness program for youth ages 5 through 12. The goal of Power by the Hour is to improve the health of students and their families by encouraging them to choose to eat healthier foods, increase their physical activity level and increase their knowledge of physical activity and nutritious food items.

Why do they do it?

Allina Health has identified reducing childhood obesity as a priority public health goal. Obesity in children is now epidemic. The number of children who are overweight has doubled in the last 20 to 30 years; currently one child in five is overweight, and this is true regardless of race and gender. Such a complex health threat based in part on lifestyle, recreation, eating habits, self-esteem, and family systems, requires addressing this problem on many fronts.

Impact

The program started with one pilot school in 2006 and has now reached more than 3,000 youth across Minnesota and Western Wisconsin. Power by the Hour is the recipient of the following awards: Johns Hopkins University Promising Partnership Practices Award, Minnesota Hospital Association Community Health Commitment Award, Minnesota Community Education Outstanding Project Award, Allina Healthy Communities Award, and Anoka County Public Health Recognition Award.

Contact: Susan Nygaard RN, BSN, PHN
Manager, Community Health Improvement
Allina Health
Telephone: 612-262-4946
E-mail: susan.nygaard@allina.com