# The Science of Essential Balance

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO · 2021 · $252,937

## Abstract

Project Summary
The purpose of this SEPA project is to design and field-test The Science of Essential Balance (SEB)
curriculum for high schools. Building on an established university-public school SEPA Partnership including 5
school districts in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, this project seeks to develop a 40 lesson curriculum
to teach the science about energy-balanced living in Healthful Living Course of Study. The curriculum will
incorporate mobile technology to deliver course assignments that lead students through the 5-E science
learning cycle to engage, experiment, explain, elaborate, and evaluate data they collect from themselves about
nutrients (especially calories) intake and expenditure. Learning the science about energy balance in the
physically active healthful living lessons will provide opportunities for students to study the relationship
between nutrition, exercise, injury prevention, and obesity prevention using scientific inquiry processes. The
knowledge learned from this SEB curriculum may form a foundation for students to further study and
understand preventive medicine. Efficacy of the curriculum will be determined in an Evaluation Study (Phase 1)
and a Dissemination Study (Phase 2). In the Evaluation Study, 20 high schools from the established SEPA
Partnership districts will be randomly assigned to either the SEB condition or a control condition in the first
three project years. A quasi-experiment design will be used in the Dissemination Study to determine the
sustainability and transferability of the SEB curriculum using a sample across the U.S. The curriculum efficacy
evaluation will be based on evidence representing student achievement outcome, teacher assessment of the
curriculum, and community satisfaction about students’ understanding demonstrated in student-led community
events. A three-level Hierarchical Linear Model will be used in both studies to ensure validity, reliability, and
generalizability of evidence for curriculum efficacy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10225386
- **Project number:** 5R25GM129805-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA GREENSBORO
- **Principal Investigator:** ANG CHEN
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $252,937
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-14 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10225386

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10225386, The Science of Essential Balance (5R25GM129805-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10225386. Licensed CC0.

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