Topic: Obesity, Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity
Target Population: Early Childhood, Middle Childhood
Sector: School-Based
This program is for children in kindergarten through 6th grade.
Know Your Body (KYB), an inclusive, multi-component, school-based health education program, is designed to positively alter participants' understanding of and approach toward their general health and help youth engage in healthy behaviors.
No peer reviewed publications evaluating the effectiveness of this program were located.
The KYB program includes five components.
The required components include the following:
The optional components include the following:
Spanish curricula and materials are available for purchase.
The KYB program has been available since the 1970s and was originally developed by the American Health Foundation through a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The extent to which the program has been used is unknown.
The American Health Foundation provides on-site training for classroom teachers and a KYB coordinator, who is designated by the schools. Training for teachers and a KYB coordinator lasts 1 to 5 days.
Considerations for implementing this program include acquiring teacher, parent, and student buy-in; understanding there may be potential costs associated with the optional health screening information sessions; and finding time to offer extra education sessions to families of children who are considered at risk for future development of chronic disease.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing Know Your Body, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
KYB requires about 40 hours of classroom instruction. Time to complete additional activities selected by the school varies.
No information about implementation costs were located.
To move KYB to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact Ken Resnicow by mail University of Michigan School of Public Health, 3867 SPH 1, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, phone 1-734-647-0212, email kresnic@umich.edu, or visit https://sph.umich.edu/faculty-profiles/resnicow-ken.html
Resnicow, Cross, & Wynder (1993)
Bush, P. J., Zuckerman, A. E., Theiss, P. K., Taggart, V. S., Horowitz, C., Sheridan, M. J., & Walter, H. J. (1989). Cardiovascular risk factor prevention in black schoolchildren: Two-year results of the “Know Your Body” program. American Journal of Epidemiology, 129(3), 466-482. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115158
Bush, P. J., Zuckerman, A. E., Taggart, V. S., Theiss, P. K., Peleg, E. O., & Smith, S. A. (1989). Cardiovascular risk factor prevention in black school children: The "Know Your Body" evaluation project. Health Education & Behavior, 16(2), 215-227. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818901600206
Channing Wheeler, R., Marcus, A. C., Cullen, J. W., & Konugres, E. (1983). Baseline chronic disease risk factors in a racially heterogonous elementary school population: The “Know Your Body” program, Los Angeles. Preventive Medicine, 12(4), 569-587.
Farinaro, E., Panico, S., & Mancini, M. (1981). The Know Your Body program in Italy.Preventive Medicine, 10(2), 187-194.
Marcus, A. C., Channing Wheeler, R., Cullen, J. W., & Crane, L. A. (1987). Quasi-experimental evaluation of the Los Angeles Know Your Body program: Knowledge, beliefs, and self-reported behaviors. Preventive Medicine, 16(6), 803-815. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-7435(87)90020-X.
Resnicow, K., Cross, D., & Wynder, E. (1993). The know your body program: A review of evaluation studies. Bulletin of New York Academy of Medicine, 70(3), 188-207.
Resnicow, K., Cohn, L., Reinhardt, J., Cross, D., Futterman, R., Kirschner, E., ... Allegrante, J. P. (1992). A three-year evaluation of the Know Your Body program in inner-city schoolchildren. Health Education & Behavior, 19(4), 463-480. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819201900410.
Resnicow, K., Cross, D., & Wynder, E. (1991). The role of comprehensive school‐based interventions: The results of four Know Your Body studies. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 623(1), 285-298. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1991.tb43738.x.
Resnicow, K., Morley-Kotchen, J., & Wynder, E. (1989). Plasma cholesterol levels of 6585 children in the United States: Results of the Know Your Body screening in five states. Pediatrics, 84(6), 969-976. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.84.6.969.
Taggart, V. S., Bush, P. J., Zuckerman, A. E., & Theiss, P. K. (1990). A process evaluation of the District of Columbia "Know Your Body" project. The Journal of School Health, 60(2), 60-66. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1990.tb05907.x.
Walter, H. J. (1989). Primary prevention of chronic disease among children: The school-based "Know Your Body" intervention trials. Health Education & Behavior, 16(2), 201-214. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818901600205
Walter, H. J., & Wynder, E. L. (1989). The development, implementation, evaluation, and future directions of a chronic disease prevention program for children: The “Know Your Body” studies. Preventive Medicine, 18(1), 59-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-7435(89)90054-6.
Williams, C. L., Carter, B. J., & Eng, A. (1980). The “know your body” program: A developmental approach to health education and disease prevention. Preventive Medicine, 9(3), 371-383.
Williams, C. L., Carter, B. J., Arnold, C. B., & Wynder, E. L. (1979). Chronic disease risk factors among children. the ‘Know Your Body’ study. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 32(7), 505-513. https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9681(79)90112-7.
Williams, C. L., Arnold, C. B., & Wynder, E. L. (1977). Primary prevention of chronic disease beginning in childhood: The “Know Your Body” program: Design of study. Preventive Medicine, 6(2), 344-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-7435(77)90059-7.
Williams, C. L., Carter, B. J., & Wynder, E. L. (1981). Prevalence of selected cardiovascular and cancer risk factors in a pediatric population: The “Know Your Body” project, New York. Preventive Medicine, 10(2), 235-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-7435(81)90077-3.
Zuckerman, A. E., Olevsky-Peleg, E., Bush, P. J., Horowitz, C., Davidson, F. R., Brown, D. G., & Watler, H. J. (1989). Cardiovascular risk factors among black schoolchildren: Comparisons among four know your body studies. Preventive Medicine, 18(1), 113-132. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-7435(89)90058-3
