This podcast describes the continuing work on the SWITCH program out of Iowa State University. It is a whole-school wellness program that encompasses way more than PE, and has years of research behind it.

We talk with Dr. Gabriella McLoughlin who is currently a post-doctoral research associate in the department of Kinesiology at Iowa State University. Her research focuses on children’s physical activity and health promotion, specifically targeting the school environment through comprehensive interventions. She is a licensed K-12 Physical Education Teacher and seeks to enhance the status of physical education as an integral aspect of the school curriculum and as a means to cultivate health-promoting school environments. She is currently working with Dr. Greg Welk and other professors at Iowa State and other institutions to deliver the School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health (SWITCH) study (as described in the podcast), which is funded by the United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In addition she works to evaluate the NFL Fuel up to Play 60 program in conjunction with FitnessGram research and the Cooper Institute, conduct lab-based studies integrating measurement of physical activity, and works with physical education teachers across the state of Iowa to enhance their use of assessment and data-based decision making.