Research shows that there are many reasons why youth don’t make healthy eating and physical activity choices – but one of the most important is kids themselves. They don’t think about it, don’t care about it or aren’t motivated to do it. So how do you change that?

Student leaders from throughout Houston ISD worked together at the 2009 HISD Summer Leadership Institute on August 5 to tackle this challenge. Students became an “ad agency for the day” to start building a communications campaign to mobilize their peers – and the broader community – about healthy eating and physical activity. Marketing and health behavior change experts from across the country worked side-by-side with students to lead them through the creative process, which resulted in a range of creative youth-led outreach and promotion strategies and themes.

To get the word out and engage their peers, students want to create a robust social networking effort that they themselves can develop and manage as well as event-based activities, community outreach efforts and creative in-school promotional techniques.

A youth-led communications campaign is being developed as part of HISD’s Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools wellness initiative. Learn more at Prototype Projects.

Alicia Moag-Stahlberg, MS, RD, co-chair of Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools, organized the student working session and noted, “Students’ creative ideas and passion around health and wellness are contagious. Their commitment to creating healthier youth, schools and communities is one of the guiding forces of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools initiative.”

At the 2009 Summer Leadership Institute, student leaders worked together on messages and strategies to create healthier schools and healthier youth.