The Jump IN for Healthy Kids School Program: Jump Right UP

It’s true: rising levels of childhood obesity and the prevalence for overweight in children is a growing crisis that must be addressed. Jump IN for Healthy Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and wellness in central Indiana. Childhood overweight and obesity is a growing problem and has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. If strong measures are not taken to reduce it, central Indiana is on track to have a 53% childhood overweight and obesity rate by 2025. Jump IN for Healthy Kids is doing something about it. Jump IN’s work is grounded in this fact: changing the environment is the best way to change behaviors. Research shows that if healthy nutrition and physical activity policies can be implemented in the places where children and families spend most of their time, their health will likely improve. 

With the support of community partners, Jump IN created Jump Right UP, a partnership to improve the health of kids in Indianapolis school districts.   Using the WSCC Model as the framework for success, Jump Right UP assists schools in completing the School Health Index which helps schools pinpoint best practices to improve upon. Goals of the partnership include: establishing best practices around physical activity and nutrition, such as 30 minutes of physical activity every day; implementing a healthy celebration and vending policy; and engaging with the school community to establish a culture of health and wellness that helps schools, staff, students, and maybe even test scores.

Jump Right UP is now in its third year, currently assisting 24 schools in implementing wellness policies and programs, impacting students and helping schools to meet their health and wellness goals.   

2020-2021 Jump Right UP Schools Include: 

Access the End of School Year 2018-19 Progress Report

Jump IN has many resources for you to get started on your school wellness work.  To begin, download our free Healthy Students Guide:  

We also have a Parent Wellness Toolkit and a Sample Wellness Policy for free download to get your school wellness work up and running. For even more ideas and resources, check out our Symbaloo! 

For further information or to find additional support for your school please reach out to:

Haley Loechel
Community Project Specialist
Haley.Loechel@jumpinhealth.org

Follow along on Instagram for Jump Right UP school’s progress! @jumpinforhealthykids #JumpRightUP