| Title: | Valley Initiative to Advance Health and Learning in Schools (VITAHLS) |
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| Status: | Completed |
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| Topic: | Nutrition / Diet;Physical Activity;School-based |
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| Funding Source: | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been the primary funding source, with supplemental funding in 2013-2014 from Griffin Hospital and the Jones Family Farm. |
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| Funding Period: | 2011-2019 |
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| Study Design: | N/A |
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| Purpose: | VITAHLS was founded in 2011 to promote healthy lifestyles (focusing on nutrition and physical activity) to PreK-12 students, students’ families, and school staff in the Lower Naugatuck Valley. VITAHLS has been a combined effort of the Yale-Griffin PRC, Griffin Hospital, school districts (Ansonia, Derby, Naugatuck, Seymour, and Shelton), a partner from the CT State Department of Education, and community partners (the Naugatuck Valley Health District, Ansonia Chargers Club, Massaro Community Farm, ShopRite Supermarket, Boys & Girls Club, Valley Early Child Regional Council, and Valley YMCA). The PRC played an active leadership role in VITAHLS during its first 8 years. After 2019, leadership will be transitioned to school district representatives. |
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| Further Study Details: | The PRC employed a VITAHLS coordinator from 2013-2019 to develop health promotion materials, plan meetings and events, oversee data collection, and serve as a resource for schools. Representatives of the PRC, school districts, and community partners attended monthly working group meetings. Health promotion efforts evolved and expanded over time and included: nutrition and classroom-based physical activity programs for elementary schools; a middle school nutrition program; an annual healthy cooking competition; a cookbook; school gardens; farm field trips; a nutritional scoring system in school cafeterias; a “Smarter Lunchroom” in one cafeteria; physical activity videos featuring local high school students; and weekly “Valley Health Challenge” messages. The PRC provided mini-grant funding to support staff-driven health promotion projects. |
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| Findings: | Student BMI: BMI z-scores generally did not change from the 2011-2012 to 2017-2018 school years, except in one district that had declines in both measures. The number of students, grade levels assessed, and timing of assessments varied from year to year and among districts, making comparisons between districts or over time somewhat challenging.Student fitness: Fitness test scores, reported by districts to the state of CT, improved in VITAHLS districts from 2011-2012 to 2017-2018, whereas scores for the state overall remained flat. Because these were aggregate data reported by grade, it was not possible to determine whether these differences were statistically significant.Student academic performance: There were no notable changes in performance measures in any of the districts.Program inventory survey: More than 50 nutrition and physical activity programs, activities, and policies were implemented during this project period. Partnership/staff survey: Among the 125 staff from the school districts who responded, 25% were “very familiar” with the VITAHLS initiative, 57% has some awareness of it, and 18% had never heard of it.Perceived impact of VITAHLS: Benefits included: access to information; professional development opportunities; networking; inter-district collaborations; links to community organizations; student wellness emphasis; ideas for staff wellness; mini-grant funding; other grant opportunities; leveraging the partnership to obtain funding from other sources; support in setting up school gardens; and an enhanced ability to address issues through shared efforts. Challenges included: inability of some staff to attend working group meetings without substitute coverage; lack of authority among some staff to make decisions on behalf of their schools or districts; and lack of awareness of VITAHLS among students’ families or other school staff. |
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| Eligibility: | Students in participating grades in participating schools in each district, and staff involved in any VITAHLS-related wellness programs available within their districts. |
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| Evaluation: | During the 2014-2019 funding period, VITAHLS served as the school-based “epicenter” of our Community Health Opportunities Organized with Schools at the Epicenter (CHOOSE) core research project. We evaluated the impact of the initiative on changes in students’ body mass index (BMI), fitness levels, and academic performance in repeated cross sections of students over time. We also assessed: awareness of VITAHLS among school staff; uptake of VITAHLS-related programs in schools; and the perceived impact of VITAHLS among school partners. |
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Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center