Awards Programs: PTA Healthy Lifestyles Awards

PTA Healthy Lifestyles

Grant Overview
PTA Healthy Lifestyles promotes good nutrition and regular physical activity in order to address the nation’s childhood obesity epidemic. One-third of American children and youth are either obese or at risk of becoming obese.¹  Increased access to high-calorie good-tasting, inexpensive foods, along with increasingly sedentary lifestyles, has contributed to the rise in childhood obesity.²  In addition, the reduction and elimination of recess in as many as 40 percent of U.S. school districts has limited students’ physical activity during the school day.³  The obesity epidemic may not only decrease quality of life with the onset of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases but also reduce the life expectancy of today’s children.^4,5  Further, consistent findings show that obesity is often associated with poor levels of academic achievement.⁶

But here’s the good news: Increasing physical activity and improving nutrition at home and at school—through programs like PTA Healthy Lifestyles—can reduce the risk of obesity and improve the overall health of students and families.

PTA Healthy Lifestyles emphasizes the important role families can play in keeping their children healthy and ready to learn. In celebration of PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month each November, National PTA offers PTA Healthy Lifestyles Grants of up to $1,000 to local PTAs. The grants support PTA efforts to engage schools and families in:

• Increasing access to and awareness of healthy foods
• Increasing physical activity for students and families
• Providing healthier foods in schools
• Engaging and training family and community members in promoting physical activity and healthy eating habits

Eligibility
The applicant must be a PTA in good standing.

Timeline
Applications are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT, Friday, September 10, 2010. Funding decisions are expected to be made by early October. Grant recipients will be notified by phone or e-mail. Grantees will be expected to focus their activities in PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month, November 2010.

Reporting
Grantees must complete and submit the PTA Grant Report by December 15, 2010. A sample grant report is available for reference here  or by contacting National PTA staff at HealthyLifestyles@PTA.org or (800) 307-4PTA (4782). Failure to submit a complete report in a timely manner may affect the grantee’s future grant funding eligibility with National PTA.

Criteria for Selection
Applications must be complete and submitted on time. Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed. Consideration may be given to ensure geographic distribution of awards. Judges will be looking for programs that:

• Celebrate PTA Healthy Lifestyles Month, November 2010, and have a long-term impact;
• Promote healthy lifestyles in the home, school, and community;
• Promote family involvement in the school;
• Emphasize the connection between healthy lifestyles and student achievement; and
• Engage a diverse group of family and community members.

Grant Application Deadline
All applications must be completed and submitted by 5:00 p.m. EDT, Friday, September 10, 2010. Applications must be submitted online at PTA.org/HealthyLifestyles.

Contact
Questions about the grant, the application, or funding decisions should be directed to the National PTA Program Coordinator for Health and Welfare at HealthyLifestyles@PTA.org or (800) 307-4PTA (4782).

Footnotes
¹ Institute of Medicine, “Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity: How Do We Measure Up?”, Report Brief, September 2006, http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2006/Progress-in-Preventing-Childhood-Obesity--How-Do-We-Measure-Up/11722_reportbrief.ashx (accessed February 5, 2010).

² U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation (Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, January 2010).

³ Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, State of Play. Gallup Survey of Principals on School Recess (Princeton, NJ: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, February 2010).

⁴ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation.

⁵ Institute of Medicine, “Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity,” Report Brief, September 2009, http://www.iom.edu/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2009/ChildhoodObesityPreventionLocalGovernments/local%20govts%20obesity%20report%20brief%20FINAL%20for%20web.ashx (accessed February 5, 2010). 

⁶ Howard Taras and William Potts-Datema, “Obesity and Student Performance at School,” Journal of School Health 75, no. 8 (2005).

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