Throughout the next school year your students will be completing a series of five homework assignments that are focused on lessons about healthy and active lifestyles. These homework assignments are part of a continuing research project being performed by five medical students at the University Of New Mexico School Of Medicine (Joseph Bergsten, Carmela Carrasco, Patrice Foster, Felicia Guliford, and Geneva Torres) and being overseen by Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, a physician at the University of New Mexico Hospital.
The goal of the research is to study the effect of home based learning that involves the family as a supplement to school based learning about healthy and active lifestyles. At the beginning and end of the study your child will complete a short survey about their attitudes about things like eating healthy foods and exercise. In addition your child’s weight and height will be measured and their Body Mass Index calculated, this information will be used to evaluate the program’s success. Your child will be identified using a personal identification number and at no time will their name or any other personal identification information be disclosed or published.
The recommendations and curriculum presented in the homework assignments are based on the recommendations of the United States Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control. As a parent, these assignments are designed to encourage conversations with your child about living a healthy and active lifestyle. These assignments are part of research but the main focus of the assignments is to educate your child about important health issues, there are five homework assignments that focus are slightly different areas. The first assignment will focus on eating a well balanced diet that includes whole grains, vegetables, fruits, calcium rich foods and healthy protein sources and gives parents an opportunity to plan healthy meals with their children. The second assignment will teach students how to read nutrition facts labels on most food items sold in the United States to give students the ability to choose healthy foods. The third assignment helps children explore their own body images and gives parents the opportunity to discuss the important difference between healthy and perfect. The fourth assignment will discuss exercise and will help parents and students design a plan to incorporate the appropriate amount of exercise into their child’s life. The last assignment will focus on media time such as television watching, video gaming, and computer time. This assignment will help parents to balance media time with other appropriate activities that encourage a healthy lifestyle.
It is important to understand that these assignments are designed to promote behavioral changes that lead to positive lifelong habits. We do not want children developing unhealthy preoccupations with weight, but we would rather they focus on choosing healthy foods and participate in activities that will help them feel good about themselves. The goal is to promote healthy lasting changes that will stay with your child beyond the scope of this study. During the exercise homework assignment parents will be given the opportunity to discuss their child’s Body Mass Index or BMI. BMI is one of the tools used by physicians to determine if a child is at a healthy weight for their height and age. If you are concerned about your child’s BMI it is always best to talk to a physician or contact the school nurse to discuss their health.
We encourage and appreciate your support and involvement in this project and hope that you and your student enjoy the next few months discussing these important health topics. If you are not comfortable with your student being included in this study, please contact your child’s teacher and your student can complete the homework packet without being included in the study. If you have any questions or would like to give feedback on the assignments please contact me at jbergsten@salud.unm.edu.
Sincerely,
Joseph Bergsten
Carmela Carrasco
Patrice Foster
Felicia Guliford
Geneva Torres
