Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) is a comprehensive community health program that creates behavior change in children by teaching them to identify healthy foods and increase their Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) each day. The health education curriculum uses terminology for identifying healthful foods – GO, SLOW, and WHOA – that has been used colloquially nationwide as a simple means of labeling food’s nutritional content. Further, CATCH is designed and proven to coordinate healthy messages through the community and fully integrates the Center for Disease Control’s “Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child” model; the expanded Coordinated School Health approach.
Initially funded in 1988, the original CATCH study was the largest school-based health promotion study ever conducted in the United States. CATCH continues to be tested and improved by researchers with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. Today, CATCH community health programs serve 10,000 schools and communities across the U.S., in pre-K, K-8, and after-school programs. CATCH has proven to decrease childhood obesity by as much as 11% and a CATCH program in Los Fresnos demonstrated a 28% increase in MVPA in children enrolled in that community school district.
CATCH Early Childhood is a preschool-based program designed to encourage physical activity and healthy eating in children ages 3-5. CATCH EC includes 3 components: 1. It's fun to be Healthy! Classroom curricula consisting of interactive nutrition and garden-based lesson plans and activities, 2. Structured physical activities provided in a CATCH EC Physical Activity Box, and 3. Family Education including tips for parents to incorporate nutrition and physical activity into home routines. It is a daily curriculum with lessons and activities that are approximately 30 minutes each.
Additional CATCH Information
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For More Information
Contact the ELC of Manatee County's Community Educational Initiatives Team
(941) 757-2900 ext. 2500
communityengagement@elc-manatee.org
