Research to Results: Instilling healthy eating, fitness habits in adolescents

Pete Sykes has seen how his 11-year-old daughter’s confidence has grown during her participation in an after-school program at Haslett Middle School. 

The program, Guys/Girls Opt for Activities in Life, or GOAL, is a 13-week initiative geared at helping adolescents to increase physical activity and healthy eating. Since she started the program, Sykes said his daughter is more adventurous in the kitchen.

“It is good because we don’t have a great culinary depth in our household,” he said. “She's also gained some confidence with the physical activity. I think a lot of times it can be intimidating to try new activities when some people feel like experts. And I think this opportunity to be around other people, who are still learning, has given her a lot more confidence to try things.”

GOAL is led by Lorraine Robbins, a professor in the MSU College of Nursing, who is in the final year of overseeing a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The program brings instructors together with children, but parents also play an important role. 

“What we found in the past is that after we conduct a program and the program ends, the adolescents stop their healthy behaviors because they don't have the social support that they may need,” Robbins said. “And, as young adolescents, they still rely on their parents for support for healthy eating and physical activity.”

Parents involved in GOAL answer a few simple questions each week about how they supported their child’s or children’s healthy eating and physical activity during the prior week, establishing some accountability. Students, meanwhile, participate after school for almost two hours, two days a week. They learn about healthy eating and how to cook via mobile kitchens. They also engage in physical activity. 

“We have them cutting up their vegetables, fruits, and any type of meat, like chicken, that might be used in the various recipes,” Robbins said. “So, it's a great experience for them to learn how to cook. And they also have opportunities to learn skills related to playing various sports, like basketball.”

More than 900 students from fifth through eighth grade have participated in the program, coming from 14 different Michigan schools, including those in the Jackson, Holt, Flint, Metro Detroit, and Grand Rapids areas. While researchers are measuring several metrics, such as body fat percent, cardiovascular fitness, and quality of life, they have not yet conducted a final data analysis to examine the findings because the data for this last year of the program are still being collected. 

Regardless, the program is already making an impact. Sykes said programs like this are invaluable to communities and that recent news about cuts to research funding are disheartening. 

“It would be sad to see programs like this go due to lack of funding, because everybody's got something to learn,” he said. “The kids get to experience things that will boost their confidence, like it did for my daughter. I’d be sad to see it go.”

Published April 1, 2025.