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Part of the SNAP-Ed Strategies & Interventions Toolkit.* The Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating and Exercise (CHILE) Plus is a multi-component nutrition and physical activity education program for preschool age children and their families. CHILE Plus is the dissemination project of CHILE, a randomized control trial conducted by the University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center (UNM PRC). CHILE Plus is based on the socioecological model and includes 6 components that fit into this model: the classroom curriculum, staff professional development, food service, family engagement, grocery store collaboration, and partnership with local health care providers and Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program providers.
Developer
University of New Mexico Prevention Research Center (UNM PRC)
Year
2012
drawings of children in front of a building with the letters C H I L E - Child Health Initiative for Lifelong Eating & Exercise
Website
CHILE Plus
Email
SDavis@salud.unm.edu
Funding Source
New Mexico Human Services Department, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed)
Free Material
Yes
Cost ($)
$0.00
SNAP-Ed Toolkit Classification
Research-tested
Evidence
  • Evaluated
Evaluation Information
In 2015, an evaluation of CHILE Plus found: CHILE Plus participants had a slight (.17 servings) increase in fruit and vegetable consumption from baseline to follow-up, but the difference wasn’t statistically significant. CHILE Plus participants had a decrease (.69 days) of days when half the plate was fruits and vegetables from baseline to follow-up. The decrease was statistically significant (p<.05). There was an association between the frequency with which children helped prepare meals and the average servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Children who helped prepare meals at least once per day consumed significantly more fruits and vegetables than children who almost never helped prepare meals. In 2019, CHILE Plus teachers reported conducting 1,227 CHILE Plus classroom nutrition lessons, offering 17,225 tasting opportunities. Target foods were served during a meal or snack in 86.5% of all weeks reported. A majority (97.4%) of all classroom days in session reported at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity, and 31.4% reported 60 minutes or more, an average of 49.6 minutes per day of structured PA.
Research Articles
CHILE: an evidence-based preschool intervention for obesity prevention in Head Start
Integrating formative assessment and participatory research: Building healthier communities in the CHILE Project
Effects of an Obesity Prevention Intervention on Physical Activity Among Preschool Children: The CHILE Study
CHILE: Outcomes of a group randomized controlled trial of an intervention to prevent obesity in preschool Hispanic and American Indian children
Evaluation Framework Indicators
ST1
ST3
MT1
MT3
Audience
Search library for Parents/Caregivers materials
Search library for Preschool materials
Setting
Search library for Indian Reservations materials
Search library for Pre-K & Childcare materials
Search library for Retail materials
Search library for WIC & Other social services materials
Format
Search library for Curriculum materials
Search library for Evaluation Tools materials
Search library for PSE Change materials
Search library for SNAP-Ed Toolkit Interventions materials
State
Search library for New Mexico materials
Language
Search library for English materials
SNAP-Ed Connection Comments

* SNAP-Ed Strategies & Interventions: An Obesity Prevention Toolkit for States is a compilation of interventions. The toolkit was developed by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, The Association of SNAP-Ed Nutrition Education Administrators (ASNNA), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Training and Research Translation (Center TRT), and the National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR), a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the USDA. It is designed and updated to help state SNAP-Ed administrative and implementing agencies identify evidence-based obesity prevention programs and policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) strategies and interventions to include in their SNAP-Ed plans.

Review date
Reviewer Initials
MR