SWITCH Programming

SWITCH (School Wellness Integration Targeting Child Health) is a school-wellness training initiative coordinated by Dr. Greg Welk and an interdisciplinary research team of faculty and staff from multiple universities. Through a USDA funded grant, the team has established a flexible, capacity-building process that helps schools to build capacity to run programming on their own. Programming is now coordinated by the 4-H Youth Development program of ISU Extension and Outreach but Dr. Welk and the PAHP lab still play a key role in facilitating and evaluating programming. Visit www.iowaswitch.org to learn more.

SWITCH Leadership Team

Switch is guided by an interdisciplinary leadership team consisting of a number of ISU faculty members as well as colleagues from ISU Extension / 4-H. 
  • Greg Welk, Ph.D.: Kinesiology
  • Lorraine Lanninghman-Foster, Ph.D.: FSHN
  • Spyridoula Vazou, Ph.D.: Kinesiology
  • Laura Leichty: 4-H Program 
  • Rachel Sweeney: 4-H Program

ConcepT and Foundation Handout

SWITCH evolved from an evidence-based program called 'Switch' that  focused on school obesity prevention. The programming worked through schools to help youth to 'switch what they do, view and chew'. The foundational elements and mantra have been retained but schools now receive training aimed at helping them create local system changes to promote physical activity, healthy eating and reductions in sedentary behavior. The concept of SWITCH is articulated in the image below.


Publications on SWITCH

  1. McLoughlin, G. M., Vazou, S., Liechty, L., Torbert, A., Lanningham-Foster, L., Rosenkranz, R. R., Dzewaltowski, D. A., & Welk, G. J. (2020) Transdisciplinary Approaches for the Dissemination of the SWITCH School Wellness Initiative through a Distributed 4-H / Extension Network. Child and Youth Care Forum.
  2. Lee, J. A., McLoughlin, G. M., & Welk, G. J. (2020). School Wellness Environments: Perceptions Versus Realities. The Journal of School Nursing, 1059840520924453.
  3. Vazou, S., Bai, Y., McLoughlin, G. M., & Welk, G. J. (2020). Self-Regulations for Educators Questionnaire (SREQ) for implementation programming. Translational Behavioral Medicine.
  4. McLoughlin, G. M., Candal, P., Vazou, S., Lee, J. A., Dzewaltowski, D. A., Rosenkranz, R. R., ... & Welk, G. J. (2020). Evaluating the implementation of the SWITCH® school wellness intervention and capacity-building process through multiple methods. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 17(1), 1-18.
  5. McLoughlin, G. M., Rosenkranz, R. R., Lee, J. A., Wolff, M. M., Chen, S., Dzewaltowski, D. A., ... & Welk, G. J. (2019). The Importance of Self-Monitoring for Behavior Change in Youth: Findings from the SWITCH® School Wellness Feasibility Study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(20), 3806.
  6. Chen, S., Dzewaltowski, D. A., Rosenkranz, R. R., Lanningham-Foster, L., Vazou, S., Gentile, D. A., ... & Welk, G. J. (2018). Feasibility study of the SWITCH implementation process for enhancing school wellness. BMC public health, 18(1), 1119.
  7. Welk, G. J., Chen, S., Nam, Y. H., & Weber, T. E. (2015). A formative evaluation of the SWITCH® obesity prevention program: print versus online programming. BMC Obesity, 2(1), 20.
  8. Gentile, D.A., Welk, G., Eisenmann, J.C., Reimer, R.A,, Walsh, D.A., Russell, D.W., Callahan, R., Walsh, M., Strickland, S., and Fritz, K. (2009). Evaluation of a multiple ecological level child obesity prevention program: Switch what you Do, View, and Chew. BMC Medicine. 18;7:49+.
  9. Eisenmann, J.C., Gentile, D.A., Welk, G.J., Callahan, R., Strickland, S., Walsh, M. and Walsh, D.A. (2008). SWITCH:  rationale, design, and implementation of a community, school, and family-based intervention to modify behaviors related to childhood obesity. BMC Public Health, 8:223.