Schools and Obesity Prevention: Creating School Environments and Policies to Promote Healthy Eating and Physical Activity

There is increasing recognition that community-based approaches may have merit in improving physical activity and healthy eating behaviors. The “Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana” program supported twelve projects that addressed the root causes of obesity through integrated community-level changes. Partnerships provided community-based obesity prevention by promoting healthier eating and/or physical activity through enhanced infrastructure, policy changes, and programming. To evaluate whether the program resulted in changes in healthy eating and/or physical activity among adults, surveys were conducted pre- and postintervention among participants. Participants who were exposed to physical activity programs were more likely to adopt the consumption of fruits (odds ratio = 2.0; 95% confidence interval [1.1, 3.6]), were more likely to eat vegetables once per day ( p = .028), and were more likely to participate in physical activity ( p = .053). Participants who were exposed to healthy eating programs were more likely to eat fruit once per day ( p = .035), were more likely to eat vegetables at least once per day ( p = .008), and were more likely to participate in physical activity ( p = .018). In conclusion, there is some indication that the Challenge for a Healthier Louisiana program produced changes in health behaviors among program participants; however, the sustainability of these changes will require further evaluation.

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Strategies to improve the implementation of healthy eating, physical activity and obesity prevention policies, practices or programmes within childcare services

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews ◽

10.1002/14651858.cd011779.pub3 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Luke Wolfenden ◽

Courtney Barnes ◽

Jannah Jones ◽

Meghan Finch ◽

Rebecca J Wyse ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Obesity Prevention ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Prevention Policies

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Environments Change Child Behavior, But Who Changes Environments?

Kinesiology Review ◽

10.1123/kr.2014-0077 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 71-76

Author(s):

John B. Bartholomew

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Eating Behaviors ◽

School Administrators ◽

Early Research ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

School Environments ◽

The Individual ◽

Support Activity ◽

Children’S Physical Activity

Numerous interventions have been designed to modify children's physical activity and eating behaviors. While early research centered on the individual as the target of intervention, more recent work targets change in the environment. These studies have consistently supported the importance of environmental contributors to both physical activity and eating behavior, but little research has considered those who are responsible for implementing environmental change. For example, if we expect school environments to support activity and healthy eating, we must consider the motivation of school administrators to affect change. This review will present examples of an ecological approach to behavior change along with recent data to support this approach.

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Obesity prevention in the family day care setting: impact of the Romp & Chomp intervention on opportunities for children's physical activity and healthy eating

Child Care Health and Development ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01205.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 385-393 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

A. de Silva-Sanigorski ◽

D. Elea ◽

C. Bell ◽

P. Kremer ◽

L. Carpenter ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Obesity Prevention ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Day Care ◽

Care Setting ◽

Family Day Care ◽

The Family ◽

Children’S Physical Activity

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The substance and sources of young children's healthy eating and physical activity knowledge: implications for obesity prevention efforts

Child Care Health and Development ◽

10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01191.x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 37 (3) ◽

pp. 368-376 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

J. D. Lanigan

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Obesity Prevention ◽

Healthy Eating

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Engaging Youth Voices To Create Supportive School Environments For Healthy Eating And Physical Activity

10.21203/rs.3.rs-1179018/v1 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Louise L Hardy ◽

Kym Rizzo Liu ◽

Emma Sainsbury ◽

Smita Shah

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

High Schools ◽

Healthy Eating ◽

Physical Activity Intervention ◽

Leadership Skills ◽

Peer Leaders ◽

School Environments ◽

Online Surveys ◽

Education Professionals ◽

Agents Of Change

Abstract Background: The Students As LifeStyle Activists (SALSA) Program is an effective Australian peer-led leadership program offered to high schools. SALSA Youth Voices (SYV) is a novel extension of the SALSA program, providing SALSA Peer Leaders with an opportunity to further develop leadership skills, and to design and implement an intervention to promote healthy eating and physical activity within their school. The objectives of this study were to 1) measure the acceptability of the SYV program, 2) determine skills gained by peer leaders from participating in SYV, and 3) determine whether peer leaders successfully implemented a student-designed healthy eating/physical activity intervention. Methods: Schools which participated in the SALSA program in 2019 were invited to a Leadership Day workshop (Term 3) where SALSA Peer Leaders identified and planned an activity to promote healthy eating and/or physical activity at their school, and an Action Day (Term 4) where peer leaders presented their interventions to 100 health and education professionals. Peer leaders completed two brief online surveys at the end of the Leadership Day and upon registration at the Action Day. Results: Eighty-four peer leaders (aged 14–15 years) from seven high schools in western Sydney (mean Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) = 951) participated in SYV. Peer leaders reported their involvement with the SYV program as positive, with 68% rating it as “very valuable”. Skills gained by the peer leaders included teamwork (90%), communication (85%), leadership (77%) and confidence (65%). Peer leaders planned and devised interventions included installing water refill stations, improving school gyms, redesigning girls’ sports shorts, and other strategies to engage girls in physical activity. Most peer leaders reported their intervention was successfully implemented and sustainable in their school. Conclusions: SYV provides a unique leadership opportunity for students from socio-economically disadvantaged areas to be effective agents of change to create opportunities for students to participate in physical activity and improve healthy food options at school.

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