CATCH Champion for July 2007

An Interview with Colby Wagoner

Senior Nutrition and Physical Activity Specialist

Save The Children, Berea, Kentucky

What prompted you to be an advocate and champion of children's health?

The rising rate of childhood obesity is a major public health threat for our youngsters . Save the Children is tackling the growing obesity epidemic among children ages 6 to 12 years living in poor and isolated rural regions of the United States. We help children develop healthy lifestyle behaviors that will assist them in achieving energy balance at a healthy weight and carry the children through adolescence to become healthy adults.

When did you adopt the CATCH Program and what prompted you to do so?

In 2005, Save the Children created the CHANGE (Creating Healthy, Active, and Nurturing Growing-up Environments) Program, which increases children's access to regular physical activity and healthy snacks where we work in the regions of Appalachia and the Southeast, the Mississippi Delta, and California 's Central Valley . To encourage children to be physically active, Save the Children uses the CATCH Kids Club . The CATCH curriculum is designed for children to be physically active at a moderate to vigorous level by having four objectives that each physical activity session must meet.

The four objectives are:

Provide children with 30 minutes physical activity daily and be involved in moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least 50% of the class time.

Provide children with many opportunities to participate and practice skills.

Encourage children to participate in a variety of activities in school, after school, and with family and friends.

During the 2006-2007 school year, the CHANGE Program provided more than 4,000 hours/week of structured physical activity and a daily healthy snack to more than 2,000 children in the after school and summer school setting at 67 sites in 8 states. In Kentucky , 7 schools used the CATCH curriculum as the physical activity during the school day. Through the after school CHANGE Program, children learn basic principles of healthy living and become positive change agents for their parents at home, their peers at school, and in their community.  Through CHANGE, Save the Children is making a positive contribution to stem the rising rates of obesity in high-risk children.

Describe notable changes since implementing CATCH and how you know CATCH is working.

The comments from our CHANGE Coordinators at our 67 schools have been very positive. Here are some comments I received from a teacher at one of our schools.

“The physical activity portion of the program I could talk on and on and on.  Children want to be physically active.  They love this part of the program.  I know that some students only stay because of the physical activity portion of the program.  Many students see me in the hallway. All age levels stop and ask, " What game are we playing, what game are you playing?"   I feel this is a time for children to have fun and release lots of their energy.  I have had several parents comment on the fact their child is more calm and they get in trouble less at home when they have had the physical activity.  Some parents have asked if they could go to PE twice a day.”

“From the teacher standpoint of seeing the benefits of the physical activity, the students who participate in the after school program are more attentive in class.  They are more focused and I have seen a direct impact with grades.  My students who are in the program have made better grades jumping from B's to A's and holding at the A range. Yes, I am so pleased.  I feel that it has boosted their self - image and worth.”

What are the keys to your success?

I think the key to our success is identifying the key stakeholders in each school to really have an impact on the school environment. Whether it is school staff, community leaders, or parents, finding the person or persons who is going to be your champion is crucial. The second most important thing is the amount of technical assistance that we provide to our schools. We are monitoring and evaluating our programs regularly to ensure the objectives are being met.

What was your most significant barrier and how did you overcome the challenge?

The most significant barrier that has been overcome is ensuring that our programs have adequate space in which to conduct the physical activities. This is especially true for the schools we work with in rural areas with limited resources. Often times, the weather and other after school programs can influence the availability of spaces where the physical activities can take place. Having the “Limited Space and Formations” section in the CATCH Activity Box has been extremely helpful in these cases. Most beneficial, however, is the creativeness and dedication of some our CHANGE Program coordinators who achieve the program objectives, in certain occasions, in the narrow hallways of the school or a small classroom. Certainly a very challenging environment, but with training and guidance, the coordinators are able to have the students be physically active while having fun. Long term, it is always going to be a challenge to convince parents and school personnel to consistently provide adequate space for providing structured physical activity for children.

What advice can you offer for those just beginning and for those who have already implemented the CATCH Program.

Find those individuals who will be your champion and give them lots of support.

What has been the reaction from parents, administration, students and community?

“Truly can't say enough about this wonderful program.  I am so pleased that we have it for our students at McKee.  Thank you for providing the monies and the guidelines to make it so wonderful.”  

“I personally love the program and think that it is one of the best things at McKee School. I know that it is the best after school program that we have ever had and I have been part of after school programs for several years.”

What are your plans for the future? What is your CATCH vision?

We are planning to expand the CHANGE Program to 100 schools in 10 states during the 2007 to 2008 school year.

How do you sustain the program from year to year?

Save the Children has public policy and advocacy staff that work with legislators in the 8 states where we have the CHANGE Program. A great deal of our U.S. Program funding comes from state and federal earmarks that support our programs from year to year. We also teach school staff and communities how to continue the CATCH Kids Club and after school snack program so that they will have the skills to continue it once we have phased out the program in schools.

Anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for the opportunity to describe our program. Save the Children is currently partnering with colleagues at The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University to design, implement, and evaluate an enhanced CHANGE Program for 1,400 rural elementary school children, ages 6 to 12 years, in the regions of Appalachia , Mississippi Delta, Southeast, and California's Central Valley .

The CHANGE Study will be a randomized controlled trial involving 30 schools in 4 states (California , Kentucky , Mississippi , and South Carolina ) and will adapt and test the Shape Up Somerville obesity prevention intervention to the rural context. A component of the CHANGE Study will be to evaluate the effectiveness and outcomes of our current CHANGE after school program (30 minutes or more of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and a healthy snack) to control schools and intervention schools that will have a school-, home- and community-based obesity prevention intervention.

The purpose of the study will be to identify a package of interventions that will create supportive environments to encourage low-income rural children to increase their daily physical activity levels, reduce sedentary behaviors, and develop healthy eating habits. We should have preliminary results by January 2009.

More information about the CHANGE program can be found here: http://www.savethechildren.org/programs/us-literacy-and-nutrition/physical.html

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