CARDIAC 2025

Since 1998, the WV CARDIAC Project has worked to identify children with health risk factors and offer novel intervention strategies. The Project was initially funded through the WV State Legislature and has impacted over 300,000 school-aged children in West Virginia. In 2017, the WV CARDIAC Project ceased operations, due to the state budget cuts. However, the Project resumed in 2018 and is now supported by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. For CARDIAC 2025, the Project saw surveillance of Kindergarten, 2nd, and 5th grade students across 20 West Virginia counties, with screenings for abnormal Body Mass Index (BMI) and Acanthosis Nigricans (AN). The WV CARDIAC Project is administered through a partnership between the WVU School of Medicine and the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences (CAHS). WVU Extension Health Educators collaborate on the project and function as community leaders in schools to help implement the screening process and deliver the school-based educational component. The CAHS Center for ActiveWV oversees the project's implementation and evaluation.