Regie’s Rainbow Adventure® (RRA) is a program featuring a series of ten children’s books and is intended for children aged 2-5 years old. RRA follows the adventures of Regie, a broccoli superhero, and his adventures to different islands that correspond with the color of the rainbow. At each island, he learns about fruits and vegetables that correspond with that island’s color, and earns his power stripes for trying a new fruit or vegetable. NKFM staff train early childhood educators on the implementation of the program.

For the 2025 program year, the RRA program was implemented in over 600 early childhood education classrooms, reaching more than 6,500 children and their families. Outcomes were measured by parent and teacher surveys. The surveys were disseminated and completed at the conclusion of the RRA program cycle.

Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities™ (HSHC™) is a program developed by the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) for children in preschool through 5th grade. HSHC™ aligns with SNAP-Ed messaging to empower students, educators, and families to eat better and move more where they learn, eat, play, and work. The program incorporates a planned curriculum, food samplings, structured physical activity, and books.

The following data was gathered as part of the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) grant:

During the 2022-2023 programming year, HSHC™ was implemented in 11 early childhood classrooms and 15 summer camp sites throughout Wayne County. A total of 728 children were served through the program. Program outcomes were measured by evaluation tools including, “That’s Me, My Choices,” and parent surveys. The surveys were disseminated and completed at the conclusion of the six-week lesson program.

Parent Survey Results*

Childhood Lifestyle Changes

• • 100% of parents reported their children were eating more fruit
  • 75% of parents reported their children were eating more vegetables
  • 100% of parents reported their children were more physically active*Only 17 parents completed the parent survey, limiting these findings.

That’s Me, My Choices Results

• • 38% of respondents increased frequency of fruit consumption
  • 39% of respondents increased vegetable consumption

The Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care (Go NAPSACC) program is an innovative early childhood program to help combat obesity. Go NAPSACC consists of a pre-assessment and a post-assessment in which childcare providers or site directors answer questions about current nutrition and physical activity practices. After the pre-assessment, they create three goals to work on in order to improve their nutritional and physical activity components. Educational materials are provided in order to make environmental changes. After implementing these changes, care providers complete the post-assessment in order to report the results of the implemented changes.

During the 2024-2025 program year, 47 centers completed both the pre- and post-assessments and served 2,486 children and their families. When compared to a control group, intervention centers have been found to be more likely to make significant changes in nutrition policies, environments and practices and some positive changes in physical activity policies, environments, and practices.

Reported changes included caregivers offering more fruits and vegetables to children throughout the week, starting gardens for the children to help plan, plant, care for, harvest, and learn from, and creating written policies in areas such as child nutrition, farm to ECE and outdoor play. Participants enjoyed “setting goals and implementing the changes” and “having resources to offer parents.” Participants noted that time and consistency were key-it took time to develop goals and initiate changes, and it was important to be consistent with those changes every day.

PE-Nut™ (Physical Activity and Nutrition) is a program for children in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade. PE-Nut™ provides nutrition and physical education to children in the school setting in order to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables among children. PE-Nut™ also engages children in physical activity in order to educate them about the importance of moving their bodies and being physically active.

The following data was gathered as part of the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) grant:

During the 2022-2023 programming year, the PE-Nut program was implemented at 11 schools throughout Wayne County. A total of 3,657 children were served through the program. At the end of the programming timeframe, the evaluation tools, “That’s Me My Choices,” Physical Activity Screener for Youth, and a parent survey, were implemented among a sample size of children and their parents who received the six PE-Nut lessons.

That’s Me My Choices Results

• 45% of children stated that they ate healthy foods after the program
• 52% of children reported that they tried new foods that they had never tasted before
• 48% said they ate many different kinds of food
• 44% reported that they asked someone at home to buy healthy foods

Physical Activity Screener for Youth Results

• 52% of respondents increased the number of days they were active for at least 60 minutes
• 58% of respondents increased activity after school, 63% on weekends, and 59% increased general weekly activity.
• 36% of respondents decreased number of hours spent watching TV

Parent Survey Results

• 74% of parents reported that since their son/daughter has participated in the PE-Nut program at school, their child is trying new foods.
• 91% of parents reported that since their son/daughter has participated in the PE-Nut program at school, their child is doing more physical activity.
• 87% of parents reported that since their son/daughter has participated in the PE-Nut program at school, their child is eating more fruit.