New School Curriculum to Address Heart Disease Among American-Indian Youth
SEATTLE
Comprehensive Health Education Foundation (C.H.E.F.) has partnered with the University of Washington to develop a new, school-based curriculum that will help reduce cardiovascular disease among American-Indian youth. The curriculum will address heart disease prevention for students in grades 7-12, with an emphasis on preventive lifestyle changes.
Dr. Dedra Buchwald, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, says the university and the nonprofit organization can combine their collective strengths.
“We’re delighted to be working with C.H.E.F. …with an engaging format that combines substantive content with contemporary, interactive, multi-media, teaching modules, educators, kids, and parents will have a way to begin taking action against heart disease,” says Buchwald.
According to recent medical statistics, American Indians experience a significantly higher incidence of heart disease than the total U.S. population.
The curriculum will be introduced during the 2006-07 school year, and will be piloted in a variety of schools both on and off reservations in South Dakota, Montana, and Washington state. Each module in the “In Our Voice” curriculum series will attempt to explore a health topic in a user-friendly, culturally relevant way: tobacco prevention, body image, exercise, weight and nutrition, cardiovascular disease, and staying healthy for life.
