Nebraska Kids Fitness and Nutrition Day is not a new idea. But with the help of a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the federal Rural Health Transformation Program fund, its efforts to improve the health of Nebraska’s children are set to grow exponentially.
Kate Heelan, PhD, professor of research in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions, began the program in 2004, while she was at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, in conjunction with dietitian Kaiti George.
The program was originally created to encourage classroom teachers to integrate fun, hands-on nutrition education into their curriculum while providing physical education teachers with new ideas for physical activity. At the time, nutrition education was in the fourth-grade curriculum in Kearney Public Schools.
By 2024, the 20th annual event, the fitness- and nutrition- focused event was held by four implementation teams in nine locations across the state impacting more than 3,000 students. The program has previously been held in Kearney; Hastings; a Panhandle-based program that serves Alliance, Chadron, Sidney and Scottsbluff; and a partnership in the southwest portion of the state that serves McCook and Imperial.
With the new grant, Dr. Heelan and her team hope to grow the program by 10 implementation sites over the next five years. Many current sites pull students and schools from a wide radius – Kearney sees participants from 50 miles away – so the growth in actual statewide coverage should be impressive.
The events have been popular with both students and teachers – the UNK event generally draws between 800-900 fourth graders every year.
The impact?
“Our focus is the reach of the program,” Dr. Heelan said. “Teachers are always telling us this is their students’ favorite field trip of the year, the one they remember most. We hold these events in the fall, so that teachers can build throughout the year on the nutrition and fitness education we provide. We want to reach as many kids as we can through the schools.”
With the grant funds, the curriculum will be enhanced and packaged to share with programs across the state. Organizers also provide participating classroom teachers with additional resources to use throughout the year. In addition, they plan to expand the curriculum to include after school programs, summer camps and other age groups.
“There are a lot of rural communities we’d like to reach,” Dr. Heelan said.