Promoting Physical Activity and 

Healthy Nutrition in Afterschool Setti

Strategies for Program Leaders and Policy Makers

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Child Care Bureau

August 2006

ppqy p

Human Services’ Child Care Bureau awards CCDF grants to states, territories, and tribes. With 

nearly half of the children receiving services being of school or kindergarten age, CCDF provi

significant funding for afterschool care in a variety of settings. The majority of CCDF dollars are us

provide subsidies to eligible low-income children under age 13. A portion of CCDF funding is also 

for quality improvement initiatives, such as professional development and technical assistance

the goal of building the capacity of states to deliver quality services including programs before and 

school, during summers, and on school holidays.

To support state efforts to provide quality afterschool opportunities, the Child Care Bureau aw

a technical assistance contract on out-of-school time to The Finance Project and its partner, The Na

Governors Association Center for Best Practices. The Afterschool Investments project provides tec

assistance to Child Care and Development Fund grantees and other state and local leaders who su

afterschool efforts. The goals of the project include:

■ Identifying ways that states and communities are using Child Care and Development Fund 

(CCDF) subsidy and quality dollars to support out-of-school time programs, and sharing 

these practices and approaches with other states;

■ Identifying administrative and implementation issues related to CCDF investments in out-of-s

time programs, and providing information and context (about barriers, problems, opportunitie

as well as practical tools that will help CCDF administrators make decisions; and

■ Identifying other major programs and sectors that are potential partners for CCDF in support

out-of-school time programs, and providing models, strategies, and tools for coordination wit

other programs and sectors. 

To meet these goals, the Afterschool Investments Project: 

■ Develops state profiles of afterschool resources, policies, and issues;

■ Creates tools and materials to support the development and sustainability of afterschool effo

and 

■ Provides technical assistance at meetings and conferences around building state collaboration

for afterschool.

For more information about the project or to submit a request for technical assistance or inform

contact The Finance Project at (202) 587-1000 or by email at afterschool@financeproject.org, o

http://www.nccic.org/afterschool.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Serv

Administration for Children and Families

Child Care Bureau

How Bad Is the Childhood Obesity Problem? 6

What’s at Stake for Overweight Children? 7

Why Has Obesity Become So Prevalent in Children and Adolescents? 7

How Can Afterschool Programs Help? 9

Afterschool Program Elements that Promote Healthy Lifestyles 10

Increasing Physical Activity 10

Promoting Good Nutrition 12

Engaging Parents to Encourage Healthy Choices at Home 15

Developing Policies to Provide Support and Build Capacity 

for Afterschool Programs 18

Develop Health and Nutrition Guidelines and Training 

for Afterschool Providers 18

Help for Afterschool Programs to Access Food and Nutrition 

Entitlement Programs 19

Encourage and Disseminate Research on Afterschool 

Programs’ Impact on Health 20

Involve Afterschool Providers in Childhood Obesity Policy Discussions 21

Finding Resources and Developing Creative Financing Strategies 22

Leveraging Dollars to Support Physical Activity and Nutrition Efforts 25

Using Intermediaries to Build the Capacity of Afterschool to Incorporate Physical 

Activity and Nutrition into Their Programming 26

Maximizing State and Federal Revenue While Building a Pot of Flexible Dollars 27

Conclusion 28

Acknowledgments 28

Appendix 29
6

Childhood obesity has emerged as a public health problem of formidable proportions. But amids

the startling statistics there are stories of creative strategies communities throughout the county tha

are implementing to reverse childhood obesity trends by promoting healthy lifestyles for children an

youth. This strategy brief outlines the important role that afterschool programs can play in efforts t

prevent childhood obesity. It includes ideas for incorporating nutrition and physical activity into afte

school programming, strategies for financing these efforts, and examples of policies that can suppo

and encourage the afterschool community’s endeavors to steer children toward healthy choices. 

How Bad Is the Childhood Obesity Problem? 

Nationwide, an estimated 9 million children and adolescents ages 6 to 19—15 percent of the nation

children—are considered obese.1 For children aged 6 to 11, the prevalence of obesity has more tha

tripled since the 1970s.2

1 Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance,

(Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 2005).

2 Ibid. 

20

15

10

5

0

Males 6-11

Males 12-19

Females 6-11

Females 12-19

1963-1967

1966-1970

1971-1974

1976-1980

1988-1994

1999-2000

Percentage Obese

Source: Adapted from Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the 

Balance, Institute of Medicine, 2005. Obesity is defined as BMI at 

or above age- and gender-specific 95th percentile cutoff points.

Defining Childhood

Obesity

The Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a measu

that adjusts weight for height and is t

calculation most commonly used to det

mine if a person is obese. For childre

obesity is defined as a BMI at or above t

95th percentile for children of the sam

age and sex. 

For more information, see

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/nchsdefs/bmi.ht
than their parents, and hospital costs related to childhood obesity have quadrupled in the past 

years to almost $127 million in 1999.5

Why Has Obesity Become So Prevalent in Children and Adolescents?

Many factors—including genetics, poor diets, sedentary lifestyles and suburban sprawl—have

been blamed for the rapid escalation in numbers of overweight children.6 While no single factor is

responsible for the entire increase, each has contributed to an environment in which children 

participate in fewer physical activities and practice poor dietary habits.

Lack of physical activity: Schools strapped for funding and seeking to maximize instructional

time have eliminated or reduced many physical education and athletic programs in the past

3 O. Pinhas-Hamiel et al, “Increasing Incidence of Non-insulin Dependent Diabetes Melittus in Children

and Adolescents,” Journal of Pediatrics (1996), 127:608-615. 

4 Marla E. Eisenberg et al. “Association of Weight-based Teasing and Emotional Well-Being Among

Adolescents,” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (2003), 157:733-738.

5 S. Jay Olshansky et al, “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century,”

The New England Journal of Medicine 352, no. 11 (2005): 1138-45; Wang G, Dietz WH, “Economic Burden

of Obesity in Youths Aged 6 to 17 years: 1979-1999,” Pediatrics 2002,109(5):E81-1.

6 Institute of Medicine, op cit.

1985 1990 1995

2000 2003

No Data

<10%

10% - 14%

15% 

20% 

≥ 25

The data shown in these maps were collected through Center for Disease Control’s Behavioral 

Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Each year, state health departments use standard 

procedures to collect data through a series of monthly telephone interviews with U.S. adults.

Obesity Trends Among U.S. Adults
of little nutritional value. By the time they are 14 years of age, 32 percent of girls and 52 percent o

boys are consuming three or more servings of soda every day; French fries account for 46 percent o

vegetable servings for children ages 2 to 19.9 Cultural factors also contribute to these dietary habit

consumption of meals at fast food restaurants has tripled in the past 30 years,10 and the typica

American child sees 40,000 television commercials per year, the majority of them for cand

soda, and fast food.11

8

7 C.R. Burgeson et al, “Physical Education and Activity: Results from the School Health Policies and Program

Study 2000,” Journal of School Health 2001, 71(7): 279-239.

8 W. Dietz and S. Gortmaker, “Do We Fatten Our Children at the TV Set? Obesity and Television Viewing in

Children and Adolescents,” Pediatrics 75(1985):807-B12; Oded Bar-Or, “Juvenile Obesity, Physical Activity, 

Lifestyle Changes,” The Physician and Sports Medicine, 28: 51-58, 2000.

9 J.F. Guthrie and J.F. Morton, “Food Sources of Added Sweeteners in the Diets of Americans,” Journal of the

American Dietetic Association, 100:43-51.

10 Elizabeth Frazao, ed., America’s Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Departmen

Agriculture, 1999).

11 Kaiser Family Foundation, The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity, (Menlo Park, Calif.: Author, 2004)

Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and

Adolescents

In 2005, the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Agriculture released the latest version

of Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Recommendations for children and adolescents include:

■ Physical Activity: Engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity on most—preferably all—days of the week.

■ Food Groups to Encourage: Consume whole-grain products often. Children 2 to 8 years should consume 2

cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products. Children 9 years of age and older should

consume 3 cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk or equivalent milk products.

■ Fats: Keep total fat intake between 30 to 35 percent of calories for children 2 to 3 years of age and between

25 to 35 percent of calories for children and adolescents 4 to 18 years of age, with most fats coming from

sources of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, and vegetable oils.

For more information, see www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines/.
Afterschool programs: 

■ Serve many groups of children most at risk for being overweight —specifically minorities an

those in poverty;

■ Occur during a time of day when children are likely to be sedentary if not given active optio

■ Reach children at the developmental stage when they are forming the health patterns they 

carry into adulthood;

■ Provide meals and snacks that can serve as nutritious examples for dietary habits;

■ Act as liaisons to parents who make critical nutrition and physical activity decisions for 

their children;

■ Have experience in making learning fun and modifying lessons for the needs of their studen

and clients;

■ Offer a supportive, safe environment in which children can feel comfortable trying new activ

and building new skills; and

■ Are led by caring adults who can act as role models with positive influence on children’s hea

and nutrition choices.

Though afterschool programs are well-positioned to address health, physical activity, and nutritio

issues, they need guidance to do so. The following sections outline specific ways in which the after

school field can contribute to the burgeoning obesity prevention movement, and provide examples

of how these ideas have been applied on the federal, state, and local levels. The strategies 

discussed here fall into three broad categories: 

■ Incorporating physical activity and nutrition into afterschool programming; 

■ Using policy levers to build provider capacity and facilitate the afterschool community’s 

involvement in policy discussions; and

■ Accessing resources and developing financing strategies. 
12 Institute of Medicine, op cit. 

13 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Physical Activity Levels Among Children aged 9-13 years:

United States, 2002,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 52: 785-788, 2003.

Afterschool Program Elements that Promote Healthy

Lifestyles 

Afterschool programs are structured in a number of different ways. Some emphasize homework assis

tance and mentoring, while others focus on enrichment activities such as drama, art, and sports, or 

combination of these. Programs occur in a range of settings and may occur before and afterschoo

on school holidays, and during summer months. Regardless of structure, location, and resource

all afterschool programs have opportunities to incorporate elements into their program that w

encourage children and youth to be healthy. Ideas for increasing physical activity, promoting goo

nutrition, and educating parents follow. 

Increasing Physical Activity

Physical activity can have an enormous impact on improving a child’s physical and emotiona

well-being. Research has shown that increased exercise and sports participation can simultane

ously help children maintain a healthy body weight, enhance their self-confidence, and offe

“opportunities for social contact, nurturing, and maturational guidance.”12 Yet a quarter o

adolescents report that they engage in no physical activity during their free time.13 Afterschoo

10

Talking About Health So Youth Will Listen

There is a reason this brief talks about “obesity” when discussing medical conditions and “health and physical

activity” when discussing afterschool programming. In addition to feeling that it is inappropriate to label

growing, changing children as “obese,” researchers have also found that youth do not always understand

what it means to be obese. Additionally, they respond better to messages that encourage “activity” rather

than “exercise.” Youth also define being a healthy weight not by using the Body Mass Index calculation, but

by being comfortable with their bodies and having self-confidence. Finally, youth need to know that there are

immediate positive benefits of healthy eating and physical activity. 

For more information on talking about health and physical activity in a way that resonates with children and youth, see

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/physical/pdf/exec_summary_2000.pdf.
14 Though funding for the VERB campaign has been discontinued, as of October 2006, the VERB website and related resources remain accessible. 

importance of good nutrition. During the school year, the program switches to mont

activities and introduces the girls to alternative forms of physical activity ranging from hiking 

yoga. The program culminates in May, when the state’s 20 sites meet to run the “YAM Scra

(a two-mile run) in the Vermont City Marathon. Girls on Track is funded in partnership by 

Vermont Department of Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, and the American H

Association. For more information see http://healthvermont.gov/family/gt/girls_on_track.as

■ The Promoting Healthy Activities Together (P.H.A.T.) Campaign was developed by 

California Adolescent Nutrition and Physical Activity (CANFit) Program. This statew

non-profit organization’s mission is to engage communities and build their capacity to imp

the nutrition and physical activity status of California’s low-income African American, Amer

Indian, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander youth age 10 to14. The PHAT Campaign 

lizes a community-based approach which embraces music, dance, emceeing, and o

elements of hip-hop culture (in community centers, schools, afterschool programs, and ot

organized settings) to deliver important messages about healthy eating and physical activity. 

a follow-up to the P.H.A.T. campaign, CANFit created a multi-media package to encoura

community-based organizations to use hip-hop to keep youth active and to educate the

about the importance of healthy eating. Each package contains a video that includes 

minutes of educational messages and a 40 minute instructional hip-hop dance routin

a music CD that features original tracks, and a 36-page guidebook filled with information

resources, and discussion activities. For more information on the P.H.A.T. curriculum, go to

http://www.canfit.org/phat/.

■ VERBTM It’s what you do is a national campaign coordinated by the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention to encourage young people ages 9 to13 to be physically active

every day. The campaign has shown a 34 percent increase in weekly free-time physical

activity among 8.6 million children ages 9 and 10. Afterschool programs can download

materials—including kits to help children create new games and explore games 

from around the world, a tool to help track daily physical activity, and ideas for rewarding completed physical activity goals. For more information, go to http://www.cdc.gov/

youthcampaign/.

14
12

Promoting Good Nutrition

Afterschool programs provide opportunities for children to not only consume nutritious snacks bu

also to learn real-life strategies for evaluating food options and making healthy choices. Man

programs have developed creative ideas for giving children the skills and information they need i

order to build healthy and nutritious eating habits.

■ Power of Choice is a curriculum for afterschool providers developed through a partnershi

between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration. Th

resource guide is intended to help afterschool program coordinators develop activities tha

promote healthy eating and physical activity choices among adolescents. The guide contain

many quick and simple activities that require little or no preparation time, such as making fou

different kinds of drinks and analyzing their nutrients by using Nutrition Facts label skills, o

scooping fat (shortening) into a plastic bag and determining how much of it is in a favorit

food. The curriculum contains a CD with ten interactive sessions, activities, recipes, poster

and videos. To download this guide, go to: http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Resources

power_of_choice.html.

to promote physical activity and good health through fun activities. The Web site offers program staff a wide array of activities, including “Street Games,” “Multicultural Activities,” and

“Sports with a Twist.” These activities require relatively little “real” equipment and rely on

creative use of household materials and limited space. Funding for the site was provided by

the CDC. For more information, see: http://www.afterschoolpa.com/home.html.

goCyberCamp, a Web-based “camp” for kids ages 8 to 12, which features activities that

teach kids about healthy living. The “Canteen” on goCyberCamp includes fun, interactive

games that teach kids about exercise and how to make wise decisions in selecting healthy

snacks. The National Cooperative Extension System and the National 4-H Youth

Development Program developed goCyberCamp with a grant funded by the AT&T Family

Care Development Fund—a joint project of AT&T, the Communications Workers of America, 

and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. For more information, go to

http://gocybercamp.org.
p

Teaching “Energy Balance” Combines Physical Activity and Nutrition

ReCharge! is an afterschool program developed by a partnership between Action for Healthy Kids and the

National Football League and designed for students in grades 3 to 6 to learn about and practice good nutrition and physical activity habits. ReCharge! uses concepts of “Energy In” and “Energy Out” to teach students

about nutrition and physical activity and how to balance calorie intake with calorie expenditure. Lessons also

focus on teamwork and goal-setting. ReCharge! was developed by content and afterschool experts with

guidance from a panel of 25 education, fitness, nutrition, and afterschool organizations. The program 

promotes national standards for health education, physical activity and parent involvement, and the 2005

USDA Dietary Guidelines. 

For more information, see http://www.actionforhealthykids.org.
14

py py 

Health to teach middle school students about nutrition and physical activity. Four simple

health themes can be integrated into physical education, language arts, math, science, and

social studies classes. The lessons encourage active, inquiry-based learning, emphasize literacy across the curriculum, and address national and state learning standards. The physical

education lessons are designed to convey the Planet Health themes of increasing activity and

improving dietary quality without detracting from important physical activity time. Curriculum

packets include: ready-to-use lesson plans; materials for Power Down, a two-week campaign

to reduce television viewing time; FitCheck, a self-assessment tool to help students track and

improve their activity levels, and reproducible worksheets. Components of the Planet Health

curriculum could be adapted to afterschool programs wishing to incorporate wellness activities in their repertoire. For more information, go to: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/prc/

proj_planet.html.

Project LIFE is an afterschool program in the Appalachian region of North Carolina focused

on developing physical activity, health, and nutrition activities that link with the North

Carolina Standard Course of Study objectives. For example, the science objectives in the

state call for inquiry-based practice and opportunities for making and testing hypotheses. To

address this objective while encouraging physical activity, staff engage the students in an

activity where they hypothesize about which types of physical activities have a greater effect

on heart rate or which ways of measuring one’s pulse is most accurate. Children then make

predictions, test the hypotheses, and chart the results. For more information on Project LIFE

see the financing profile on page 27 of this publication. 

The First Tee of Denver is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable golf

experiences for Denver children. The group has formed a partnership with Denver Public

Schools to provide afterschool sessions in which students make golf clubs. The sessions

emphasize reading and writing, and also teach mathematics and reasoning skills. Students

then use the clubs they make on the golf course, where they are exposed to a sport they can

participate in throughout their lives as well as to a “life skills” philosophy that teaches lessons

about achieving goals and responding to adversity. Students can earn extra time on the

green by participating in a “Read and Swing” afterschool literacy program which rewards

completion of reading goals with free sessions at the driving range and free rounds of golf.

For more information, see http://www.denvergov.org/Golf/.
program created by the National Institutes of Health to encourage healthy weights for childre

In addition to community and youth outreach, We Can! provides resources to educate pare

and caregivers about how they can support healthy choices and educate their children ab

the importance of good nutrition. We Can! encourages parents and primary caregivers to:

– Increase the availability and accessibility of healthy foods in the home;

– Limit the availability and accessibility in the home of sweetened beverages, high-fat fo

and energy-dense foods with low nutrient value;

– Enjoy small portions at home and at restaurants;

– Support and enable family physical activity;

– Support and enable reduced screen time.

We Can! has produced Families Finding the Balance, a handbook for parents that provi

background information on the obesity epidemic, and practical, useful tools to help fami

adopt healthier lifestyles. For more information, visit http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov. 

■ Team Nutrition is a USDA initiative that helps foodservice personnel provide nutritio

education for children and their caregivers and provide support to healthy eating and phys

cal activity. Team Nutrition encourages parents and schools to work together to help childre

understand the importance of healthy eating and physical activity at home. For more infor

mation, go to http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/team.html.

■ Eat Smart. Play Hard.TM is a national nutritional education and promotion campaign

designed by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services to convey science-based, behaviorfocused, and motivational messages about healthy eating and physical activity. The 

campaign uses a character named “Power Panther” to communicate its four major

themes to children and caregivers, including the importance of eating breakfast, 

balancing your day with food and activity, and taking family time to emphasize being
16

g g

A Comprehensive Resource to Find Program Ideas

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Child Care Bureau launched Fit Source—an

interactive Web site for child care and afterschool providers looking for resources to help address the nation's

childhood obesity epidemic. The site allows providers to easily search for a variety of physical activity and

nutrition resources by age, topic, and keywords. Providers will find: games and activities, lesson plans, healthy

recipes, information for parents, physical activity campaigns, funding strategies, informational resources, and

Spanish language Web sites. The site links to existing federal resources and was developed after receiving

input from over 100 child care providers about their needs.

Fit Source is found on the National Child Care Information Center's Web site at http://nccic.org/fitsource. 

Addressing Cultural Influences on the Health of Children

Media-Smart Youth is a media literacy initiative that encourages young people ages 11 to 13 to become

more aware of the role media play in shaping their attitudes and behaviors related to nutrition and physical

activity. The National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the Academy for Educational

Development have developed, pilot-tested, and revised an interactive curriculum geared to youth in afterschool programs. The curriculum encourages young people to establish physical activity and healthy eating 

as values in their lives, empowers youth to discern how media may influence choices concerning their health,

and provides youth an opportunity to develop local campaigns to promote physical activity and good 

nutrition for their peers.

For more information, go to: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/msy/.
community leaders still face many obstacles to taking promising efforts to scale. Some of the

challenges include:

Federal/State/Local Agency Coordination. Many agencies are involved in overseeing different

aspects of the physical activity and nutrition issue. At the federal level, the Departments of

Health and Human Services and Agriculture each have a role. Likewise, many state and loca

agencies also have important roles to play. It will take great effort, planning, and cooperation

for these various governmental and nongovernmental agencies and departments to work

together in an effective way.

Funding. Currently, few funding streams exist that specifically target obesity prevention. Rather,

health, physical activity, and nutrition are often tied to other initiatives such as cancer or diabetes

prevention, school lunch programs, food stamps, and afterschool programs. Without the availability of a dedicated funding stream, program leaders will need to blend together funding from

a variety of sources. Funding successful prevention practices that address the multiple needs of

the target population will require a range of coordinated funding strategies.

Identification and Sharing of Best Practices. Reversing the obesity trend will involve the testing and evaluation of innovative practices across a range of programs and policy areas. Key to

stemming the tide of obesity is the ability of innovators to share promising practices and to learn

from each other's efforts. Creating the infrastructure for collecting, examining, and sharing best

practices across a wide range of providers and agencies is another challenge.

Developing Broad Public Messages. The epidemic caused by unhealthy behaviors stems from

a combination of factors that are part of larger societal trends. Public awareness and education

about the range of issues that are contributing to the problem can be part of the solution.
18

Developing Policies to Provide Support and Build

Capacity for Afterschool Programs

While afterschool providers have a variety of opportunities to incorporate health, nutrition, an

physical activity into their programs, policy makers also have a number of opportunities to guid

and encourage these efforts. Supportive policies can help afterschool providers by:

■ Educating them about health, physical activity, and nutrition and holding them accountable fo

incorporating these principles into their programs;

■ Facilitating their access to federal food programs;

■ Informing them of promising practices in the afterschool wellness field; and

■ Involving them in relevant policy discussions.

Develop Health and Nutrition Guidelines and Training for Afterschool Providers

Afterschool program directors face the same onslaught of health-related information that inundate

the general public—each new day means a new study, statistic, or trend related to physical activit

and nutrition. Even the most well-intentioned providers may be overwhelmed when sifting throug

various news reports to figure out how their suggestions and data apply to the children in the

programs. Thoughtful policies can outline standards and guidelines for providers who want t

implement healthful programs but struggle to do so. These guidelines, along with training on how

to implement them, can help spread awareness of health and nutrition issues to afte

school providers who may not have considered the impact their programs can have on th

children they serve. Supportive policies also can hold providers accountable for incorporatin

health and nutrition guidelines into their programs by integrating them with licensing an

accreditation standards.
guidance on the health of the children in the program. OCCS has conducted train-the-train

sessions with all Child Care Resource and Referral agencies in the state, who are in turn tra

ing the child care community. For more information, visit http://www.eec.state.ma.us.

■ The Florida Children’s Forum division of school-age services offers training in the Spo

Play, and Active Recreation for Kids (SPARK) curriculum to school-age child care provid

throughout Florida. SPARK sessions provide participants with tips to increase the qu

and quantity of physical activity in their programs, with a focus on helping children deve

healthy lifestyles, motor skills, and social and personal skills. For more information, 

http://www.flchild.com/schoolage.htm. 

■ The National AfterSchool Association (NAA), a professional membership organization 

school-age child care providers, grants accreditation to programs which meet establis

quality criteria. NAA accreditation standards require that programs provide children w

opportunities to play outdoors for at least 30 minutes out of every three-hour period and h

suitable playground equipment. Some states reward providers that achieve accreditation w

higher reimbursement rates when serving children that receive federal child care subsidies. 

more information, see http://www.naaweb.org. 

■ The National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST) recently published a report th

investigates the links between NAA standards and available physical activity and nutritio

programs and curricula. Afterschool programs may want to review this report before invest

ing in a particular curriculum. The report is available for download at http://www.niost.org/

publications/healthy%20choices%20afterschool.pdf.

Help for Afterschool Programs to Access Food and Nutrition Entitlement Programs

Afterschool programs play an important role in providing children with healthy and nutritious food.

The federal government provides free and reduced-price lunches and snacks for eligible children

in schools, child care centers, and afterschool programs through several USDA programs:
20

■ The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) is a federal nutrition program available t

schools, local government agencies, and private non-profit organizations to feed childre

during summer vacation and—for students attending year-round schools—during break

that replace a traditional summer vacation.

By accessing these programs, afterschool providers supply eligible children with a substantia

portion of the nutrition they receive each day while also gaining access to informational resources an

educational materials about proper nutrition. Accessing these funds can be administratively complex

sometimes requiring staff and resources unavailable to many small afterschool programs. In respons

to this challenge, organizations and partnerships have emerged to help afterschool programs navigat

the system and simplify access to funds. A number of states and communities have intermediar

organizations to assist afterschool programs. For example:

■ The Children’s Hunger Alliance of Ohio, works to maximize and leverage USDA nutritio

funds for eligible programs, and helps afterschool programs access funds. For more informa

tion, see page 26.

■ The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) has developed a toolkit for afterschoo

programs to access federal food programs. The toolkit provides an overview of each federa

nutrition program and step-by-step instructions for participating and receiving funding. Th

toolkit is available online at http://www.frac.org/Afterschool_Guide.pdf. 

Encourage and Disseminate Research on Afterschool Programs’ Impact on Health

The potential of afterschool programs to have lasting impact on child health is clear, yet little 

known about which specific approaches have the most significant results. Studies that track healt

behaviors in children and adolescents rarely isolate afterschool programs’ effects on changin

those behaviors. Programs that implement creative approaches to promoting health and nutr

tion need guidance in how to best assess the impact of obesity prevention efforts on children

health. Studies of “what works” can be shared with the afterschool community and translate

into user-friendly guidelines and assessment tools for use by program providers. Examples o

promising studies currently being conducted include:
2

p 

information, see http://www.epi.umn.edu/cyhp/r_gems2.htm. 

■ The Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG). The goal of the TAAG study is to determ

if linking schools to community organizations can help limit the reduction in physical act

that commonly occurs in middle school girls. The project is operating in 36 middle schoo

six sites throughout the country. Sixth grade girls in treatment schools receive aftersch

physical and health education classes focused on their preferences and participate in phy

activity programming developed in partnership with community groups. The study will c

pare girls receiving this intervention to a control group to determine if they engage in m

physical activity, improve physical activity or body composition, and change attitudes or be

about physical activity. For more information, see http://www.cscc.unc.edu/taag/desc.ph

Involve Afterschool Providers in Childhood Obesity Policy Discussions

Schools, communities, and states are implementing a range of policies designed to ensure t

students are engaged in physical activity and have access to nutritious foods. Supportive polic

are prohibiting access to vending machines in schools, mandating time for recess and physi

education, and redesigning neighborhoods to encourage walking and biking. Many of the

approaches affect the afterschool community and can benefit from including afterschool providers 

their development. 

■ Local Wellness Policies. When federal nutrition programs were reauthorized in 2004, the 

legislation added a new requirement for school districts (local educational agencies, or

LEAs) participating in child nutrition programs such as the free and reduced-price meals

program. Each participating LEA is now required to create, by the 2006-07 school year, a

local wellness policy that outlines its goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and

other school-based wellness initiatives. The LEA is required to include students, parents,

school administrators, the school food authority, the school board, and the public in

developing the local wellness policy. School districts have flexibility in how they define

the school day and have the option to include afterschool program activities as a 

part of a school wellness plan. District leaders and afterschool providers can work
22

educational achievement if physical activity detracts from instructional time. Aftersch

programs that are school-based or school-linked can ease the strain of implementing s

requirements by extending both learning time and physical activity time. Involving af

school programs in these policy discussions can help both legislators and educators thin

creative ways to achieve their shared goals for healthy children while taking advantage of 

expertise and resources of afterschool programs in their communities. For more informat

on state childhood obesity-related legislation, see http://www.ncsl.org/programs/hea

childhoodobesity-2005.htm. 

■ Built Environment Designs. Many local governments, task forces, and community org

zations are assessing whether the “built environment” in their communities is conducive 

physical activity. They are evaluating factors such as whether sidewalks promote walk

through neighborhoods and how local facilities meet the need for sports and recreat

Given that changes to the built environment can enhance opportunities for children a

youth to be more physically active, these policies have a significant effect on the ab

of afterschool programs to provide opportunities for physical activity. When communi

develop surveys, plans, and mapping tools to assess the “built environment,” they can ca

fully consider the needs of a range of community programs and partners includ

afterschool programs. For more information on children’s health and the built environme

see http://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/children.htm.

Finding Resources and Developing Creative Financin

Strategies

The above discussion shows that a variety of promising initiatives aimed at preventing childho

obesity are already underway at the national, state, and community levels. Identifying relev

funding sources and developing creative financing strategies to support and sustain this wor

critical for making progress toward healthier outcomes for children and youth.
2

15 Cheryl Hayes, Thinking Broadly: Financing Strategies for Comprehensive Child and Family Initiatives (Washington,

DC: The Finance Project, 2002).

by several agencies and programs. Vulnerable families and those at highest risk typically have multiple needs 

and receive services from more than one agency or program. Efforts to make better use of existing resources 

frequently focus on coordinating and streamlining these services to reduce administrative costs; shifting funding

from more restrictive and costly programs to less restrictive and less costly, community-based services; and

improving efficiency by making better use of non-monetary resources and creating greater economies of scale.

STRATEGY 2: Maximizing Federal and State Revenue

A wide variety of federal funding streams are available to support healthy lifestyles for children, including nutrition and physical activity components. Typically these funds are narrowly focused on a target population or an

approach to dealing with one aspect of a multifaceted problem. Entrepreneurial program leaders can educate

themselves about the various types of federal funding streams that might support nutrition and physical activity

efforts and then work with the relevant decisionmakers to access these funds.

STRATEGY 3: Creating More Flexibility in Existing Categorical Funding

Most funding streams are categorical; they tend to support programs and services with narrowly-defined families

deemed eligible under law. The result at the community level has been a plethora of programs and services that

are disconnected and duplicative. Providing the customized help that many children, youth, and families require is

difficult when services are not easily coordinated. Strategies to create more flexible funding can be key to develop

ing comprehensive community support systems and paying for an array of needed services when one funding

stream cannot do the job alone and blended funds are preferable. The common objective of these strategies is to

enable community leaders to provide an array of coordinated, community-based supports and services.

STRATEGY 4: Building Public-Private Partnerships

Another important category of financing strategies that can extend the reach of public sector funding is the 

creation of public-private partnerships. Partnerships between government, community non-profit organizations,

charitable foundations, corporations, the faith community, and others provide valuable avenues for broadening

the base of financial support for community programs and services, as well as providing new leadership for

these initiatives.

STRATEGY 5: Creating New Dedicated Revenue Streams

Finally, dedicated revenue sources that raise or direct public funds for specific purposes are an important category

of strategies to generate funding for services that improve the health of families and children. These funds can be

generated privately at the program level through fundraising, fees, and unrelated business income. Alternately,

they can be generated publicly by state and local governments through the creation of special taxing districts,

special tax levies, guaranteed expenditure minimums, trust funds, and fees or other narrowly based taxes.
sources and strategies to finance their obesity prevention efforts. 

24

16 Carol Cohen and Dionne Dobbins, Financing Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs: Federal Funding Sources a

Strategies (Washington, D.C.: The Finance Project, 2004)
2

The YMCA of Santa Clara County, California formed a partnership with the YMCA of Mid-Peninsula to write a 

White grant, a federal discretionary grant that can be used to initiate, expand, and improve physical education 

grams, to provide training and education of teachers and staff, and to purchase physical activity equipment. The

used these funds to support their afterschool programming, including purchasing nutrition and physical activity-

curricula, providing training to teachers on the use of curricula, overhauling their snack program, expanding thei

activity programming to three days a week and 45 minutes a day, creating and disseminating a weekly family ne

on nutrition and physical activity, and holding family nights four times a year. In addition, they have used some o

Carol M. White funds to enhance physical activity programming for teens including hip-hop classes, martial arts, 

strength training, rock climbing, hiking, and body positive classes. In the next phase of the Carol M. White grant

YMCA partnership has agreed to train all afterschool programs in the county on nutrition and physical activity.

The YMCA partnership used the Carol M. White grant to leverage other dollars to support their efforts. The YMC

working with the County Office of Education to develop a teacher institute around physical activity and nutrition

school will identify a “Physical Education and Nutrition Champion” to complete the training. YMCA staff will work 

weave physical activity and nutrition information into the current district curricula. The goal is for each “Physical Ed

and Nutrition Champion” to be a leader in helping their schools develop local wellness policies. In turn, the afters

programs will support the schools by reinforcing their “Fit for Learning” curricula in afterschool activities.

The Santa Clara YMCA has also formed a partnership with their County Public Health Department. They develo

joint training effort in which the YMCA staff train the Public Health staff on physical education information, and in 

Public Health staff train the YMCA staff on nutrition information. Each group shares knowledge and skills that cou

used by the other to build their organization’s capacity and provide coordinated training to community providers. 

County Public Health Department is also the recipient of one of the Steps to a HealthierUS grants, a federally-fu

cooperative agreement that supports community and school-based initiatives to promote better health and preve

disease, with specific priorities on diabetes, obesity and asthma. The Santa Clara YMCA has partnered with the C

Public Health Department to reach school-age children, one of the target populations.

The Santa Clara YMCA has been conscientious about sustaining this work after their major funding ends. They ha

funds to build the infrastructure of their physical activity and nutrition initiative by purchasing equipment and curri

training staff. Sites that have participated in these efforts have committed to incorporating the lessons learned int

curricula. Finally, they continue to build partnerships and leverage additional dollars to continue their efforts. 

Contact: Mary Hoshiko

Vice President of Program and Community Development

YMCA of Santa Clara Valley

http://www.scvymca.org
26

qp

school programs—in other words, they help make it easier for afterschool programs to partner with schools and p

to access the food and nutrition services funding. Over time, they have expanded their efforts to provide resource

encourage nutrition and physical activity in afterschool programs. 

The Children’s Hunger Alliance has successfully worked with various state agencies to gain support for their effort

have received Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds from their local Child and Family Service

to evaluate food and physical activity components of local afterschool programs. As a result of the evaluations, af

programs are offered technical assistance through a partnership with the local YMCA. The YMCA provides assista

setting up physical activity programming; the Hunger Alliance provides the nutrition and meal expertise. 

They also applied for and received a grant from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health to promote The Coo

Approach to Child Health (CATCH) evidence-based physical education curriculum in afterschool programs and to 

demonstration projects in four sites. This initial work led to the curricula expanding to dozens of afterschool prog

across the state. The initiative continues and is now supported by the Ohio Department of Education. 

A partnership between the Children’s Hunger Alliance and the United Parcel Services (UPS) led to a mini-grant p

for initiatives that have interest in enhancing and supporting the Action for Healthy Kids (AHK) capacity-building g

including afterschool physical activity and the development of school wellness councils. The UPS funds have allow

the 10 regional zones within Ohio to bring school and afterschool folks together to instruct them on how to creat

ness councils and improve the nutrition and physical activity environment and program through conferences, mee

and direct consultations, depending on the zone. In conjunction with these regional zone conferences, Ohio Act

Healthy Kids and its partners have state level trainings for developing wellness councils in a ‘train the trainer’ type 

They provide a toolkit that includes afterschool nutrition and physical activity for trainers. 

The Children’s Hunger Alliance also partners with Huntington Bank and area faith-based afterschool programs to fo

Instructing Metropolitan Professionals About Community Teaching (IMPACT) partnership. The IMPACT partnership w

to build the capacity of afterschool programs through mini-grants, quarterly development trainings, and technical as

visits. A portion of the IMPACT work involves improving the nutrition and physical activity components of faith-base

grams in the partnership.

Finally, the Hunger Alliance utilizes the resources of the AmeriCorps service program to promote nutrition and ph

activity. Their AmeriCorps for Healthy Kids members serve the community at various host sites throughout the stat

Members teach a nutrition education curriculum and the CATCH physical education curriculum to low-income after

school, and summer youth programs in Ohio. Both the program and the students benefit; the Hunger Alliance sa

staffing costs to provide nutrition and physical activity services, and AmeriCorps students receive a modest living

allowance and funds to finance their professional education and development. 

Contact: J.D. Beiting

Children’s Hunger Alliance

Phone: 614-570-3520

http://www.childrenshungeralliance.org/
2

Project LIFE (Learning Involves Physical activity for Everyone) is an afterschool initiative that serves

high-risk children, youth, and families in a consortium of schools in three economically depressed and

rurally isolated counties in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. The focus of the afterschool 

programming in Project LIFE is building youth resilience through physical activity and health-related

activities. A key feature of the project is connecting the nutrition and physical activity activities to state

learning standards. Parental involvement is promoted through various family night activities, and activities are planned in ways that are engaging and provide authentic, experiential academic enrichment

while enhancing community involvement. 

Project LIFE leaders are interested in sustaining their efforts. Their philosophy of sustainability includes

building positive program visibility; community awareness; youth participation; and local, state, regional,

and national recognition of the program’s value; and developing multiple sources of support. They

have found ways to coordinate different local, state, and federal funding streams to support their goal

of providing health and wellness activities to families. Currently the project is supported by a blend of

sources including a consortium 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant, a state grant from

the Office of Juvenile Justice, as well as local funds from the Boards of Education, counties, and

town councils. In addition, Project LIFE has formed partnerships in each of the participating counties

with 501(c)(3) organizations willing to serve as fiscal agents.

The director of Project Life has also encouraged students to be partners in fundraising. For example,

this past year, students in one county organized a community run. The students mapped out the 

route for the 5K run and worked with law enforcement officials to ensure a protected running path.

Students wrote to Runner’s World magazine to ask them to publicize their event. The magazine not

only provided publicity, but also donated supplies for each contestant. The fee for the run was $25,

with a sliding scale if more than one family member registered; participants who couldn’t afford the fee

were sponsored and wrote thank you letters to sponsors. The local wellness center held a celebration

after the run, and most participants received prizes donated from local businesses. After all expenses

were paid, the students raised over $5,000 in flexible funds that support the program. 

Contact:

Bricca Sweet

Project Director

Bricca@Ed-LBEX.org 

Phone: 828-297-9204

Fax: 828-297-9204

http://www.ed-lbex.org 
28

Project Life, NC

Conclusion 

Afterschool programming is the ideal setting for promoting healthy lifestyles among school-ag

children. The examples provided in this publication are meant to encourage program leaders an

policy makers to continue to think creatively about incorporating nutrition and physical activity int

afterschool programming as well as craft policies and develop financing strategies to ensure that th

work is done effectively and efficiently. 

Acknowledgments

This brief was prepared by Dionne Dobbins-Harper and Lucinda Fickel of The Finance Project, fo

the Afterschool Investments Project, a multiyear technical assistance effort funded by the Chil

Care Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The authors would like t

thank the many individuals who contributed their comments and guidance on earlier draft

including, Sharon Deich and Michelle Jones of The Finance Project; Sandra Williams at th

Department of Health and Human Services; and Steve Fowler from the Afterschool Alliance

Many thanks, also, to the numerous program developers who were willing to share their exper

ences to educate others in the field, including Mary Hoshiko, Bricca Sweet, and J. D. Beiting.
2

General Health and Wellness

■ Steps to a HealthierUS Cooperative Agreement 

http://www.healthierus.gov/steps/index.html

■ Preventive Health and Human Services Block Grant 

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/blockgrant/

Physical Activity

■ Carol M. White Physical Education Program

http://www.ed.gov/programs/whitephysed/index.html

■ National Youth Sports Program Fund 

http://www.nyscorp.org/nysp/home.html

Physical Activity and Nutrition Education 

■ Team Nutrition Training Grant 

http://www.federalgrantswire.com/team_nutrition_grants.html

http://www.educationmoney.com/prgm_10.574_agric.html

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Grants/2006app.html

■ 21st Century Community Learning Centers Block Grant

http://www.ed.gov/programs/21stcclc/index.html

Parent Involvement 

■ Parent Resource Information and Resource Centers Grant Program

http://www.pirc-info.net/

■ Even Start Program: State Agency Block Grant

http://www.ed.gov/programs/evenstartformula/index.html

Access to Safe Environment 

■ Community Development Block Grant Program 

http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/index.cfm

Access to Adequate Amounts of Healthy Food

■ National School Lunch Program/National School Lunch Program: Afternoon Snacks

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/default.htm

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Afterschool/default.htm

■ National School Breakfast Program 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/breakfast/

■ Summer Food Service Program 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/summer/

■ Child and Adult Care Food Program 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Care/CACFP/cacfpfaqs.htm

■ Food Stamp/Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fsp/

http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/nutrition.htm

■ Women Infants and Children (WIC)/ WIC Farmers Market Program

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/

http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/FMNP/FMNPfaqs.htm

■ Community Food Project 

http://www.federalgrantswire.com/community_food_projects.html
Contact us:

email afterschool@financeproject.org

web www.nccic.org/afterschool 

The Finance Project

1401 New York Ave., NW 

Suite 800 

Washington, DC 20005 

phone 202 628 4200 

web www.financeproject.org

National Governors Association

Center for Best Practices

444 North Capitol, NW

Washington, DC 20001-1512

phone 202 624 5300

web www.nga.org

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

Child Care Bureau