Three-Year Improvements in Weight Status and Weight-Related Behaviors in Middle School Students: The Healthy Choices Study
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Author
Spadano-Gasbarro, Jennifer L.
Greaney, Mary L.
Austin, S. Bryn
Mezgebu, Solomon
Hunt, Anne T.
Horan, Chrissy
Bettencourt, Maria F.
Richmond, Tracy K.
Note: Order does not necessarily reflect citation order of authors.
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134470Metadata
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Peterson, K. E., J. L. Spadano-Gasbarro, M. L. Greaney, S. B. Austin, S. Mezgebu, A. T. Hunt, E. A. Blood, et al. 2015. “Three-Year Improvements in Weight Status and Weight-Related Behaviors in Middle School Students: The Healthy Choices Study.” PLoS ONE 10 (8): e0134470. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134470. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134470.Abstract
Introduction: Few dissemination evaluations exist to document the effectiveness of evidence-based childhood obesity interventions outside the research setting. Objective: Evaluate Healthy Choices (HC), a multi-component obesity prevention program, by examining school-level changes in weight-related behaviors and weight status and the association of implementation components with odds of overweight/obesity. Methods: We compared baseline and Year 3 school-level behavioral and weight status outcomes with paired t-tests adjusted for schools’ socio-demographic characteristics. We used generalized estimating equations to examine the odds of overweight/obesity associated with program components. Setting/Participants Consecutive sample of 45 of 51 middle schools participating in the HC program with complete baseline and follow-up survey data including a subsample of 35 schools with measured anthropomentry for 5,665 7th grade students. Intervention Schools developed a multi-disciplinary team and implemented an obesity prevention curriculum, before and after school activities, environmental and policy changes and health promotions targeting a 5-2-1 theme: eat ≥ 5 servings/day of fruits and vegetables (FV), watch ≤ 2 hours of television (TV) and participate in ≥ 1 hours/day of physical activity (PA) on most days Main Outcome Measures: 1) School-level percent of students achieving targeted behaviors and percent overweight/obese; and 2) individual odds of overweight/obesity. Results: The percent achieving behavioral goals over three years increased significantly for FV: 16.4 to 19.4 (p = 0.001), TV: 53.4 to 58.2 (p = 0.003) and PA: 37.1 to 39.9 (p = 0.02), adjusting for school size, baseline mean age and percent female, non-Hispanic White, and eligible for free and reduced price lunch. In 35 schools with anthropometry, the percent of overweight/obese 7th grade students decreased from 42.1 to 38.4 (p = 0.016). Having a team that met the HC definition was associated with lower odds of overweight/obesity (OR = 0.83, CI: 0.71–0.98). Conclusions and Relevance The HC multi-component intervention demonstrated three-year improvements in weight-related behaviors and weight status across diverse middle schools. Team building appears important to the program’s effectiveness.Other Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4546621/pdf/Terms of Use
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