Welcome to SPORT Health Behaviors (HB)! SPORT HB is a 6-session easy to use positive youth development program for prevention and health professionals who want to prevent substance use and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive identities among youth.  

SPORT HB is an adaptation of the evidence-based SPORT PPW program which has undergone rigorous research evaluating its effectiveness for preventing youth substance use and increasing healthy habits.  In addition, SPORT HB uses an evidence-based practices screening and brief intervention format recognized by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). 

SPORT HB is the only multi-lesson program designed to increase health enhancing behaviors including participating in different types of physical activity, eating a variety of healthy foods, monitoring food and calorie intake, getting adequate sleep and practicing stress control, while avoiding alcohol and drug use.  It can be implemented in any setting including school, community, health care, sports, recreation, juvenile justice, at home and others.  

SPORT HB is founded on the Behavior-Image Model, a positive youth development-related framework that targets naturally motivating positive peer and desired future images to increase motivation for change and multiple health behavior goal setting which in turn increases self-efficacy and self-regulation skills of participants.  

SPORT HB is highly flexible and can be used as a stand-alone program, or as an add-on component to other prevention, health education, sports, fitness, recreation, education, intervention or treatment programs.  While it was created as a universal prevention intervention, it can be used as a selective and indicated prevention program for high-risk populations.     

The SPORT HB program comes with a manual and a digital download of all reproducible materials needed to implement your program to countless participants.  The SPORT HB program includes:   

1.   Step-by-step implementation directions;

2.   Six screening and brief prevention intervention sessions addressing key healthy lifestyle behaviors;

3.   Brief self-administered youth health and fitness behavior screening surveys;

4.   Scripts for providing classroom lessons that present positive image content linking health promoting and substance use behaviors;

5.   Colorful slides with illustrations of youth modeling healthy habits;

6.   Goal plans/contracts for motivating multiple behavior change;

7.   30 copies of Healthy Lifestyles Worksbooks with interactive activities for use with youth at the end of each lesson;

8.   Online and paper youth pretest, posttest and 1-3-month follow-up posttest surveys to evaluate program implementation effectiveness;

9.   An online and paper Instructor’s Survey to assess the quality of each lesson presentation;

10.       A fidelity checklist to increase implementation reliability;

11.       Phone and email program support; and

12.       Separate online and onsite certified training workshops to learn to provide the SPORT HB program, or train others to implement it, with fidelity and maximum effectiveness.    

SPORT HB takes less than 50 minutes to implement and is available in three versions for: 1) High school adolescents ages 14-18, 2) Middle school adolescents ages 10-14, and 3) Elementary school children ages 8-10.

We know you will find SPORT HB an easy, enjoyable and effective way to promote fit, healthy and substance use-free lifestyles among your youth.