The checkerboard cardiovascular curriculum: a culturally oriented program.

A cardiovascular health education curriculum was designed and pilot-tested with 218 fifth grade students from rural New Mexico. The program incorporated materials, examples, and exercises relevant to the Navajo and Pueblo American Indian and Hispanic cultures of the students. Significant increases in knowledge about the cardiovascular system, exercise, nutrition and obesity, tobacco use, and habit change were found, suggesting a culturally oriented program may help promote a healthy lifestyle in minority group children.