Education

       U.S. productivity and well being is threatened by a poor health prognosis for today’s youth. In California, the annual cost of overweight, obesity and physical inactivity is predicted to rise to $52.7 billion this year. Because the diet and lifestyle behaviors that children learn become patterns throughout their lives, more effective strategies are needed that teach children to maintain their good health in a complex food and lifestyle environment. The Foods for Health Institute (FFHI) is taking stand against childhood obesity by creating an age-appropriate "personalized" health education approach for K-12. Through this approach, children learn specifically about their own health, how to take ownership over their diet and lifestyle choices and guide their health in a more positive direction.

Our Approach
       The principles of human genetic and phenotypic diversity are becoming the central themes of personalized medicine, the field that is transforming modern health care. This paradigm shift in medicine is broadening to include all aspects of public health and personalizing will be equally transformative for preventative health care. The FFHI Education Program anticipates that transition and begins to bring cutting-edge scientific knowledge on personalized health and nutrition to California’s schoolchildren.
       Many of the important determinants of an individual’s health are measurable with simple sensor devices commercially available today. FFHI researchers are making these devices accessible to schools. As part of this strategy, children learn to routinely measure their own variables of health such as physical activity, fitness, body composition and nutrition. This information is then used to guide each student on a personal health trajectory, in which they learn to a) interpret personal health indicators, b) monitor changes in health over time, c) understand the impact that personal diet and lifestyle choices have on their health indicators and d) evaluate achievements of personal goals.
       This “personalized” health education will be delivered through STEM curriculum, digital games, communications with partner programs working in other states and countries, and other innovative tools that create a private learning environment for each student. Through this initiative, the University of California, Davis is established as of source of accurate, current and research-based educational content in which personal health management is an underlying theme. This program directly addresses the national policy imperative to assist communities across America in tackling serious health challenges from childhood obesity to physical activity, healthy eating and other important lifestyle behaviors. 

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