Education Development Center, Inc.|
For Immediate Release August 27, 2008 Contact: New Middle School Curriculum Equips Kids with Tools to Eat Right and Be Active Newton, MA: With teenage obesity a continuing concern across America, a new curriculum specially created for middle schools is being introduced nationally to promote healthy choices among pre-teens. The curriculum, Getting Active and Eating Well, was developed by health and literacy experts at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), with funding from MetLife Foundation. Divided into four units, the curriculum combines reading and health to equip middle school students with information about making healthy food choices and being physically active. The units include: physical activity, foods of the world, influences on food choices, and setting and reaching goals related to nutrition and physical activity. Each curriculum unit includes a key message related to nutrition or physical activity, as well as a reading or writing task. “With this program, young people not only learn about food, nutrition, and physical activity, but also develop and practice critical literacy skills, still a much-needed focus in the middle grades,” said EDC’s Leslie Hergert. The curriculum is designed to be used by health education, physical education, and family and consumer sciences classes. Three units also meet the curriculum standards in other subject areas including social studies and science, with opportunities for interdisciplinary instruction. “The curriculum is flexible,” said EDC’s Chris Blaber. “A physical education teacher might use ‘Moving for Health’ while a social studies teacher uses ‘Healthy Eating Around the World,’ and a reading teacher uses ‘Influences on Food Choices,’” she said. “Middle school is a time when young people reach a crossroads,” said Sibyl Jacobson, president of MetLife Foundation. “The new curriculum helps motivate students to make informed decisions for healthy lives.” Getting Active and Eating Well is part of the Read for Health series, funded by MetLife Foundation. Drawing on EDC’s Supported Literacy™ program, it contributes to EDC’s Teenage Health Teaching Modules, a comprehensive school health education curriculum for grades 6–12. For more information, or to order, contact Erica Macheca at (617) 969-7100. Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) is an international nonprofit organization that conducts and applies research to advance learning and promote health. Celebrating its 50th year, EDC creates and manages more than 300 projects in 35 countries. Visit www.edc.org. MetLife Foundation supports education, health, civic and cultural organizations. Education is a major focus of the Foundation, informed by findings from the annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher. For more information, visit www.metlife.org. |