PE-Nut: Physical Education and Nutrition Education Working Together

PE-Nut is a nutrition and physical education program that uses a whole-school approach to motivate students, parents and educators to be physically active and eat healthier. PE-Nut is designed to improve health behaviors in a school environment by presenting simple, consistent nutrition and ubiquitous physical activity messages via multiple approaches and locations. Academic achievement improves when students receive a healthful diet and when they can be physically active throughout the school day. In PE-Nut, physical educators, classroom teachers and school administrators work together to improve nutrition and physical activity in K-5 school settings. It fits nicely with the coordinated school health (CSH) approach in schools.

Students who eat nutritious food and participate in regular physical activity are healthier. They miss fewer days of school and are more on task. This means that teachers’ instructional time is more efficient. Numerous studies have linked physical activity among students to higher test scores. So not only will students’ health improve, but they'll be more focused learners. View more information about research studies that support the benefits of improved health on academic performance.

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The goal of PE-Nut is to affect healthy behavior change, including:

Increase participation in a physically active lifestyle.
Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and non-fat or low-fat milk or dairy products.
Balance caloric intake from food and beverages with calories expended (upper grades).
Try new foods.
Choose healthy snacks.
Wash hands before eating.

The components of coordinated school health (CSH) directly addressed through PE-Nut are:

Quality physical education through the nutrition-enhanced Exemplary Physical Education Curriculum (EPEC); Health Through Literacy (HTL); the HTL take-home book bag; and PE-Nut newsletters.
Quality nutrition education through EPEC nutrition-themed reinforcing activities; Healthy Classrooms, Healthy Schools; Health Through Literacy (HTL); the HTL take-home book bag; and the PE-Nut newsletters.
Nutrition services, through a unit in Healthy Classrooms, Healthy Schools.
Healthy school environment, through all components of PE-Nut.
Health Promotion for staff, indirectly through all components.
Family/community involvement, through the PE-Nut newsletter, the Healh Through Literacy (HTL) take-home book bag, the family letter in each unit of Healthy Classrooms, Healthy Schools, newsletter articles in the school’s monthly or bi-weekly newsletter, taken from the Building Leadership Guide, and school-wide events.

The cost of PE-Nut for schools can vary. Each component can be purchased individually, so you can decide which pieces to implement. Also, if your school qualifies as a low-income school you may qualify for reduced pricing on materials. Other funding opportunities may also exist. To find out more, please contact us at .

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Nutrition-Enhanced Physical Education

The Explemplary Physical Education Curriculum with nutrition-enhanced lessons, for Physical Educators

Classroom Instruction

Curricula, ideas, and book sets with nutrition messages for classroom teachers and PE-Nut nutrition educators

School-Wide Events

Ideas to organize school-wide
events with messages about healthy eating, for students, staff, parents and community

Building Leaders

Daily Announcements, newsletters, and web pages with tips for healthy eating and physical activity, for principals and building administrators

Take-Home Activities

Book bags, newsletters, recipes and snack lists, for students to share at home

This material was partially funded by the State of Michigan with federal funds from the United States Department of Agriculture Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by way of the Michigan Nutrition Network at the Michigan Fitness Foundation. These institutions are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, political beliefs or disability. People who need help buying nutritious food for a better diet call the toll free Michigan Food Assistance Program Hotline: (855) ASK-MICH.