Healthy Homework: A physical activity and nutrition intervention for children

Healthy Homework was an eight-week curriculum-based homework schedule, complemented by an in-class teaching resource, designed to promote physical activity and healthy eating in children (curriculum resources may be provided upon request). The programme was developed under the guidance of an advisory committee comprising experienced health and education professionals (including classroom teachers) with regular input from children and parents. Healthy Homework was based on several established behaviour change theories (including the theory of reasoned action, the theory of planned behaviour, and social-cognitive theory), and was designed to support the achievement objectives associated with the Health and Physical Education strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. The research team provided professional learning for the teachers of the three intervention classes at each intervention school, and to one lead teacher in each of the control schools (who were permitted to implement the programme at the conclusion of the final follow-up point). The professional learning protocol was standardised across all schools, and necessitated one half-day release per teacher. At the start of the intervention, all children in participating classes received a homework booklet organised into weekly topics that each contained one physical activity and one nutrition component (e.g., walking and fruit/vegetables, screen time and breakfast, fitness and cooking). Three practical homework options were provided for each topic, and the children were directed by their teacher to complete at least one physical activity and one nutrition task per topic (e.g., organising family walks, walking to and from school, limiting screen time, testing the fitness of the family, eating 5+ fruit and vegetables each day, comparing food labels at the supermarket, helping with dinner, preparing a healthy lunch box). Blue or purple rubber wristbands were provided each week for children who completed their homework obligations, with a black colour reserved for those who completed all six tasks on a given week. The Healthy Homework classroom curriculum resource was designed to provide sufficient educational content and in-class exercises for three 1.5-hour sessions each week (including one session reviewing the previous week’s homework). Furthermore, an online portal was developed and monitored to allow teachers to access resources and record student compliance, and to enable children to share homework-related updates with other participants (including those in other schools).