Promote cardiovascular health in the five boroughs of new york city’s by providing children with the knowledge and skills to avoid cardiovascular risk factors throughout their lives
Promote cardiovascular health in the five boroughs of new york city’s by providing children with the knowledge and skills to avoid cardiovascular risk factors throughout their lives
Children’s Lifestyle, Diet & Exercise Intervention (CHILDREN)
The (CHIldre´s Lifestyle, Diet and exeRcise intErveNtion (CHILDREN) Project of Mount Sinai Heart at Icahn School of Medicine is to promote cardiovascular health in the five boroughs of New York city’s by providing children with the knowledge and skills to avoid cardiovascular risk factors throughout their lives.
Our pioneering educational initiate will administer a heart-health curriculum called the SI! Program (Salud Integral) to children ages four to five covering the topics of Healthy Diet, Body and Heart, Physical Activity, and Emotional Management. Our team will train teachers on the materials and provide monitoring and support throughout the four-month school-based intervention.
This project, launched in the winter of 2020, aims to reduce the epidemic of childhood obesity and better understand how child behavior and environment intersect to contribute to cardiovascular disease in our communities.
Putting into action the insights developed over 10 years of Heart Health Education with the SI! (Salud Integral) Program in Colombia, Spain, and Harlem, NYC [1], the CHILDREN study aims to provide a comprehensive health curriculum to almost 2000 kindergartens throughout the five boroughs of NYC.
Over time, our investigators will measure the effects of early childhood heart health education through qualitative and quantitative assessment tools.
The CHILDREN Project began in the winter of 2020 for a Pilot study in five NYC public schools. In fall of 2021, the full study will launch, initially recruiting in Manhattan before expanding to all five boroughs. CHILDREN applies evidence-based practices developed over decades of past research led by our principal investigator Dr. Fuster. The project builds upon the success of the FAMILIA Project in Harlem and similar programs in Bogota, Colombia, and throughout Spain. The American Heart Association (AHA) recognized Dr. Fuster’s successful research findings as one of the top 10 research advances of 2013.
Child Interventions
Our four-month kindergarten intervention, geared to four- to five-year-olds, is a multiplatform curriculum constructed to engage young children and their families. It contains five units, each with audiovisuals, interactive materials, and art/play-based learning activities:
- Body and Heart
- Physical Activity
- Healthy Diet
- Emotional Management
- Celebrating What We’ve Learned
The curriculum features characters such as Dr. Ruster, a muppet version of our principal investigator Dr. Fuster, and an energetic cartoon heart named Cardio, who presents most of the materials.
The program is partly based on and adapted from educational initiatives by Sesame Workshop and the SHE Foundation -“laCaixa” Foundation.
The SI! Program-NYC addresses these topics:
- Maintaining a healthy diet
- Performing regular physical activity
- Understanding how the body and heart work
- Managing emotions to avoid unhealthy lifestyle decisions
Adult Interventions
As part of our multi-level intervention, teachers will receive training on the SI! Program NYC curriculum including information on healthy diet, importance of physical activity, and health-promoting lifestyle decisions.
Parents will take part in specially designed family activities, as well as receive newsletters with information on the SI! Program, aiming to create a culture of health.
Both parents and teachers involved in the CHILDREN study will also receive assessment questionnaires that will address physical activity level, food intake, smoking habits, and quality of life.
We hope that through the consistent involvement of parents and teachers in our health intervention, we can improve the health of children who may be at higher risk for cardiovascular disease or who have a barrier to maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle. This goal will support our mission of creating long-lasting lifestyle changes for young children and their families.
The CHILDREN Project of Mount Sinai Heart is made up of a premier, multidisciplinary team of leading physician-scientists, researchers, educators.
References
- Santos-Beneit G, Fuster V et al. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2022 Jan, 79 (3) 283–298. Lessons learned from 10 years of a preschool-based intervention on health promotion.
