WELCOME TO OUR PARENTS' CORNER

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What is iAmHealthy?



iAmHealthy is a school-based program that helps families learn about healthy lifestyles!

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The program teaches healthy lifestyle skills that can help kids get to a healthy weight, so we are asking kids who are in grades 2-4 and are above the 85th percentile for BMI to participate. About 10-12 families from each participating school can sign up for the program.

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What is offered during the program?



Your child’s school will be randomly assigned to 1 of 2 different programs.

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Newsletter program: Families at some schools will get a newsletter program, where you will receive a monthly newsletter about healthy lifestyle tips, recipes, and activities. Newsletters will be sent once a month for 8 months and will include topics about eating healthy, physical activity, and motivating the whole family to learn healthy habits.

 

​Group-based program: Families at other schools will get a group-based program with a University of Kansas Medical Center health coach (a trained psychologist or dietitian) via televideo software (like Skype). Families will be loaned an iPad with an internet plan to call into the meetings from their home. These meetings will be held once a week for 2 months, then once a month for 6 months, for a total of 8 months. Topics covered are the same as the newsletter program but will be taught in a class-based meeting. You and your child will also have opportunities to meet with a health coach one-on-one outside of the group calls to set health goals specific to your family.

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What will happen during the group calls if I am in the group-based program?



If your school offers the group-based program, you will be loaned an iPad with an internet plan to call into a mobile meeting app called Zoom, which is similar to Skype. iAmHealthy staff will call you to ask what days/times you are available to do the group calls, and we will choose a date that works best for the families from your school.

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We ask that you and your child attend the group calls. You will dial into the Zoom meeting and be placed in a video call with the other participating families at your school. The iAmHealthy group leader will lead the meeting. Each week we will discuss a new health topic, which includes:

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• Goal setting

• Motivating kids to make healthy changes

• Behavior strategies for parents

• Healthy eating, food groups, and recipes

• Calories, portion sizes, and meal planning

• Increasing physical activity

• Limiting screen time

• Improving self-esteem, sleep, and stress

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Each week you and your child will set health goals to work on during the week.

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The program focuses on helping kids and families form healthy habits in a positive, supportive way. We do not focus on or discuss weight with the children.

 

What is required to participate?



• Complete the following at 3 time points (the beginning of the study, the end of 8 months, and a year after the program ends):

  • Online questionnaires about your health and your child's health​

  • Your child will be asked to wear an activity monitor to track his/her physical activity

  • Talk with someone on the iAmHealthy team about your child's diet

• Have your and your child’s height and weight taken at the school once a month for 8 months and again 1 year after the program ends.​

• If you are in the group-based program, call into a 1-hour online group call weekly for 2 months, then monthly for 6 months. The time and date of the calls are typically scheduled for the late afternoon or evening. You will also meet one-on-one with a health coach (a child psychologist or dietitian) every other week at a time convenient for you.

• If you are in the newsletter program, review newsletters that are sent to you once a month.

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Are there incentives to participate?



• A free, researched-based healthy lifestyles program.

• A total of $400 to complete all measures in the study (at the beginning, at 8 months, and at 20 months).

• If you are in the iPad group, you may borrow an iPad with internet for the 8 months of the program.

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How do my child and I sign up?



Fill out this interest form and we will contact you! Or contact  us at 1-877-588-3775 or iamhealthy@kumc.edu.

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