I Am Moving, I Am Learning

Childhood obesity is a major health problem, with serious consequences that often carry over into adulthood. Mathematica is evaluating I Am Moving, I Am Learning, a health promotion and obesity prevention enhancement developed for Head Start programs by Region III's Head Start Training and Technical Assistance Network. Launched in 2004 as a pilot project in 17 Head Start programs in West Virginia, the program aims to:

• Increase children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity
• Improve the quality of structured movement activities facilitated by adults
• Improve healthy nutrition choices for children

In spring 2006, the region invited over 50 Head Start programs to participate in a 3-day training event, which included a series of 4 interactive workshops on the following topics:

• “Moving with the Brain in Mind” (how structured movement affects children's brain development)
• “Body Language: A Movement Vocabulary for Young Children” (language for teaching structured movement to children)
• “Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity—It's Everywhere!” (ideas for activities that incorporate movement)
• “Nutrition Building Blocks” (the role of nutrition in children's growth and development and in obesity prevention)

Mathematica's three-stage evaluation is documenting what programs did to implement I Am Moving, I Am Learning enhancements after the training. Stage one involves a survey of all programs that participated in the spring 2006 training. The survey focused on whether and how programs launched an enhancement, as well as barriers and what might have helped programs adopt the enhancement. Stage two involved telephone interviews with representatives from 30 randomly selected programs that attended the training. Stage three focuses on sustainability and includes site visits in fall 2007 to 14 programs that are strong models of implementation. The site visits include separate focus groups with parents and teachers, interviews with managers, and an inventory of the physical environment to assess opportunities for indoor and outdoor moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.

The final report is scheduled for spring 2008. Issue briefs highlighting implementation lessons for practitioners are scheduled for 2007 and 2008.

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