Project Healthy Schools (PHS) provides a school-based program to reduce childhood obesity and its long-term health risks. Focusing primarily on sixth grade students, PHS aims to stem the tide of this epidemic by:

• teaching youth healthy habits
• developing healthy school environments
• creating an infrastructure that supports program sustainability and replication

Healthy youth who continue to practice healthy lifestyles will grow into healthy adults with fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic illness. Project Healthy Schools is one of the few school-based programs that have demonstrated significant improvements in both health behavior and cardiovascular risk factors, such as reductions in:

• total cholesterol,
• LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol)
• triglycerides
• blood pressure

PHS News

Thinking on their feet: In-class exercise helps fight childhood obesity while kids learn.

For the past two years, Project Healthy Schools has collaborated with the School of Kinesiology on a classroom-based physical activity intervention called InPACT. Watch this Stories of the State video about the InPACT program at Munger Elementary-Middle School in Detroit.

Learn more.

Field Notes from a Project Healthy Schools intern.

Last summer, Christian Mackey, a nutrition sciences student from the U-M School of Public Health did an internship with PHS which was supervised by PHS Wellness Coordinator, Jana Stewart. Watch the video about Christian's work with Project Healthy Schools that was included in the annual report for the School of Public Health. (scroll down to find video)

Live in the D - How you can help kids get healthy!

PHS Program Manager Jean DuRussel-Weston and Weight Watchers CEO Florine Mark discuss the importance of healthy role models for kids and a new partnership between PHS and The Weight Watchers Group, Inc.

Watch the Video.