About the program
Developing healthy habits and keeping kids active with the Start for Life program.
All early learning centers currently offer Start For Life (SFL), a program developed for children ages 3 to 5 that consists of a series of 24 lesson plans (20 outside lesson plans and 4 inside lesson plans).
SFL is administered by early learning teachers during the school day in 30 minute sessions five days per week. It provides a variety of fun activities to help build strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility. In addition, a series of self-management and skill-building exercises are used to reinforce healthy behaviors over time.
Since starting in the 2012-2013 academic school year, more than 6,000 children have participated in the Start For Life program.
The Start For Life program is certified by the National Institutes of Health's Research-tested Intervention Program.
How it works
Providing a unique approach to physical activity in preschool-age children.
1 Start For Life (SFL) incorporates evidence-based behavioral skills such as long- and short-term goal setting, progress monitoring, and breath control within its physical activity setting. These skills can then be “carried over” to academic and other life tasks.
2 In a series of four published studies, it demonstrated positive effects on not only meeting governmental recommendations for daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, but also attaining/maintaining each child’s optimal body mass index (BMI) for health.
3 SFL engages teachers in the physical activity process with their students. Since physical activity is the best predictor of sustained weight loss, it has already demonstrated such progress in teachers.
4 SFL offers ongoing support, and encourages new ideas; especially on how Start For Life methods can be extended throughout the pre-school day, and when children are with their parents.
The Start For Life program is certified by the National Institutes of Health's Research-tested Intervention Program
Research-tested
Accepted in Research-tested
Intervention Programs (RTIPs).
SFL was accepted into the National Institute of Health and National Cancer Institute’s Research-tested Intervention Programs (RTIPs) on August 15, 2014. The
RTIPs website is one of several resources on the Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. portal. The RTIPs website is a searchable database of evidence-based cancer control programs and related materials and it is designed to provide program planners and public health practitioners easy and immediate access to research-tested materials. Sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), RTIPs provides a review of evidence-based programs available for use in a community or clinical setting.
The Start For Life program is certified by the National Institutes of Health's Research-tested Intervention Program.
