School-based intervention that integrates nutrition education and supportive healthy school food environment among Malaysian primary school children: a study protocol

Abstract Background Malnutrition among school children may contribute to adverse health consequences such as non-communicable diseases, poor cognitive performance, psychological distress and poor quality of life that may persist into adulthood. In order to prevent childhood malnutrition, an intervention programme that integrates nutrition education and healthy school food environment is needed to provide nutrition information and reinforce the skills on healthy eating behaviours in schools. This paper describes a study protocol of a school-based intervention programme that integrates nutrition education and healthy school food environment, namely School Nutrition Programme (SNP). The SNP is a primary prevention programme that promotes healthy lifestyle among primary school children in light of the high prevalence of malnutrition in Malaysian children. Methods/design This quasi-experimental study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the SNP between intervention and comparison groups before and after the SNP, and after a 3-month follow-up. The SNP consisted of two main components, whereby three nutrition education sessions were implemented by trained teachers using three standardised modules, and healthy school food environment was implemented by the canteen food handlers with the provision of healthy menu to children during school recess times. Children from intervention group participated in the SNP, in addition to the standard Physical and Health Curriculum. The comparison group attended only the standardised Physical and Health Curriculum and the school canteen food handlers were reminded to follow the standard canteen guidelines from the Ministry of Education Malaysia. The assessment parameters in evaluating the effectiveness of the programme were knowledge, attitude and practice on nutrition, eating behaviours, physical activity, body composition, psychological distress, cognitive performance and health-related quality of life. Assessments were conducted at three time points: pre-intervention, post-intervention and 3-month follow-up. Discussion It was hypothesised that the SNP would be effective in promoting healthy lifestyle among school children, and further contributes in preventing malnutrition problem, enhancing cognitive performance and improving health-related quality of life among school children. Findings of the present study can be expanded to other schools in future on ways to improve nutrition education and healthy school food environment. Trial registration UMIN Clinical Trial Registration UMIN000032914 (Date of registration: 7th June 2018, retrospectively registered). Protocol version 16th September 2019 & Version 4

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Food procurement in English-language Canadian public schools: Opportunities and challenges

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation ◽

10.15353/cfs-rcea.v6i1.265 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 75-99

Author(s):

Shawna Holmes

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

Food Environment ◽

Nutritional Quality ◽

English Language ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Food Environments ◽

School Food ◽

Provincial Level ◽

School Food Environment

This paper examines the changes to procurement for school food environments in Canada as a response to changes to nutrition regulations at the provincial level. Interviews with those working in school food environments across Canada revealed how changes to the nutrition requirements of foods and beverages sold in schools presented opportunities to not only improve the nutrient content of the items made available in school food environments, but also to include local producers and/or school gardens in procuring for the school food environment. At the same time, some schools struggle to procure nutritionally compliant foods due to increased costs associated with transporting produce to rural, remote, or northern communities as well as logistic difficulties like spoilage. Although the nutrition regulations have facilitated improvements to food environments in some schools, others require more support to improve the overall nutritional quality of the foods and beverages available to students at school.

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Effects of MyBFF@school Intervention in Health-related Quality of Life among Overweight and Obese Primary School Children

10.31124/advance.9637637 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Zahari Ishak ◽

Suet Fin Low ◽

Wan Abdul Hakim Wan Ibrahim ◽

Abqariyah Yahya ◽

Fuziah Md. Zain ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Primary School ◽

School Children ◽

Well Being ◽

School Functioning ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

Obesity has been shown to impact the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among children. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of MyBFF@school program on HRQOL among overweight and obese primary school children in Malaysia. KINDLR Questionnaire was used to collect data on their HRQOL before and after the program. ANCOVA was used to analyse the comparison between intervention and control group after 6 months. There are significant effect on family functioning, F(2,1103)=7.452, p<0.05 and school functioning, F(1,1117)=7.103, p<0.05 after the intervention. Effects can also be seen on physical well-being, emotional well-being and friends functioning. The program is effective in improving the HRQOL significantly in two dimensions namely the family and school functioning. In order to achieve greater overall success,social support should be an integral part of the program and stigma on obesity should be managed and reduced by including normal-weight children in the program.

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Association between School Food Environment and Practices and Body Mass Index of US Public School Children

Journal of the American Dietetic Association ◽

10.1016/j.jada.2008.10.065 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 109 (2) ◽

pp. S108-S117 ◽

Cited By ~ 164

Author(s):

Mary Kay Fox ◽

Allison Hedley Dodd ◽

Ander Wilson ◽

Philip M. Gleason

Keyword(s):

Body Mass Index ◽

Public School ◽

Body Mass ◽

School Children ◽

Food Environment ◽

School Food ◽

School Food Environment

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A cluster randomised intervention trial of asthma clubs to improve quality of life in primary school children: the School Care and Asthma Management Project (SCAMP)

Archives of Disease in Childhood ◽

10.1136/adc.2004.062612 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 90 (8) ◽

pp. 786-791 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

E E Patterson

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

School Children ◽

Asthma Management ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Improve Quality ◽

Intervention Trial ◽

Cluster Randomised ◽

Management Project ◽

School Care

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Policy driven improvement of the school food environment for the Bulgarian first-graders in the period 2008–2016

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665120005133 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 (OCE2) ◽

Author(s):

Vesselka Duleva ◽

Ekaterina Chikova-Ischener ◽

Lalka Rangelova ◽

Plamen Dimitrov

Keyword(s):

Childhood Obesity ◽

Nutrition Education ◽

Food Environment ◽

Primary Schools ◽

First Graders ◽

Healthy Lifestyles ◽

School Food ◽

School Food Environment ◽

Policy Measures ◽

Nationally Representative

AbstractIntroduction:The disbalanced school food environment may be a significant factor contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic observed in the last decades worldwide and in Bulgaria. Policy measures targeting to improve the food and beverage availability at the school premises, to include nutrition education in the school curriculum and to implement initiatives aiming to promote a healthy lifestyle among children and their families, all have the potential to help lowering the prevalence of childhood obesity and improve the well-being and health of the children.The aim of the present study is to assess the policy driven improvement of the school food environment for the Bulgarian first-graders within the period 2008–2016.Materials and methods:Three cross-sectional studies among 7-year-old schoolchildren in Bulgaria were carried out on nationally representative samples of about 3500 children selected from the same sample of primary schools in the years 2008, 2013 and 2016 as part of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). The present study is based on the data collected through questionnaire on the school environment characteristics.Results:Within the nationally representative sample of schools from 2008 to 2016 there is decrease in the percentage of schools with availability at their premises of salty snacks (from 73.7% to 32.3%), sweet snacks (from 76.5% to 49.7%), cold drinks with sugar (from 68.2% to 10.1%) and fruit juices with sugar (from 69.3% to 8.7%), paralleled by increase in the proportion of schools offering vegetables (from 17.9% to 59.8%) and fresh fruits (from 36.9% to 87.4%). Most of the schools have nutrition education as a separate class or included in the curriculum (92.4% of the schools in 2008 and 91.5% in 2016). There is marked increase in the proportion of schools that have initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles (from 42.4% in 2008 to 68.3% in 2016).Discussion:The legislative and policy measures initiated within the period 2008–2016 have led to significant improvement in the profile of foods and drinks available at the school premises, as well as higher involvement of the schools in initiatives promoting healthy lifestyles. These positive changes in the school food environment have probably important role for the trend for plateauing in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among 7-year-old schoolchildren observed within the same study.

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Quality of life in primary school children: The Health Oriented Pedagogical Project (HOPP)

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494818767821 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (21_suppl) ◽

pp. 68-73 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kristen Ringdal ◽

Gerd Inger Ringdal ◽

Helene Kristin Olsen ◽

Asgeir Mamen ◽

Per Morten Fredriksen

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Primary School ◽

School Children ◽

Aerobic Fitness ◽

Response Rate ◽

Handgrip Strength ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Level Of Education

Aims: The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between parents’ level of education, measurements of physical attributes, and quality of life in a general sample of primary school children. Methods: The children’s and the parents’ versions of the Inventory of Life Quality in Children and Adolescents (ILC) were used to measure health-related quality of life (QOL) in 2140 school children (response rate 93%) and 1639 parents (response rate 71%) recruited from nine primary schools in Norway. A set of physical characteristics were also measured in the children: body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, average daily minutes of physical activity, aerobic fitness, and handgrip strength. Results: The regression analysis showed stronger relationships between the covariates and QOL for the parents’ assessments than for the children’s. Parents’ level of education was significantly related to children’s QOL, with the strongest association for parental QOL assessment. Among the physical variables, aerobic fitness ( B = 0.01, p > .001 in both samples), and handgrip strength in the parents’ sample ( B = 0.21, p < .05) were significantly related to the children’s QOL. Conclusions: The present study replicated the well-known finding that parents’ sociodemographic status is important for children’s QOL. Our new contribution is to show that the physiological variables aerobic fitness and muscular strength also contributed significantly to explain variance in QOL. This opens up interesting perspectives on how to improve QOL among children through more emphasis on physical activity and physical fitness in schools.

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Changes in weight status, quality of life and behaviours of South Australian primary school children: results from the Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle (OPAL) community intervention program

BMC Public Health ◽

10.1186/s12889-019-7710-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lucinda Bell ◽

Shahid Ullah ◽

Eva Leslie ◽

Anthea Magarey ◽

Timothy Olds ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Obesity Prevention ◽

School Children ◽

Weight Status ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Healthy Weight ◽

Z Score ◽

Community Based ◽

Bonferroni Adjustment

Abstract Background Childhood obesity is a serious public health concern worldwide. Community-based obesity prevention interventions offer promise due to their focus on the broader social, cultural and environmental contexts rather than individual behaviour change and their potential for sustainability and scalability. This paper aims to determine the effectiveness of a South Australian community-based, multi-setting, multi-strategy intervention, OPAL (Obesity Prevention and Lifestyle), in increasing healthy weight prevalence in 9 to 11-year-olds. Methods A quasi-experimental repeated cross-sectional design was employed. This paper reports on the anthropometric, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and behaviour outcomes of primary school children (9–11 years) after 2–3 years of intervention delivery. Consenting children from primary schools (20 intervention communities, INT; 20 matched comparison communities, COMP) completed self-report questionnaires on diet, activity and screen time behaviours. HRQoL was measured using the Child Health Utility 9D. Body Mass Index (BMI) z-score and weight status were determined from children’s measured height and weight. A multilevel mixed-effects model, accounting for clustering in schools, was implemented to determine intervention effect. Sequential Bonferroni adjustment was used to allow for multiple comparisons of the secondary outcomes. Results At baseline and final, respectively, 2611 and 1873 children completed questionnaires and 2353 and 1760 had anthropometric measures taken. The prevalence of children with healthy weight did not significantly change over time in INT (OR 1.11, 95%CI 0.92–1.35, p = 0.27) or COMP (OR 0.85, 95%CI 0.68–1.06, p = 0.14). Although changes in the likelihood of obesity, BMI z-score and HRQoL favoured the INT group, the differences were not significant after Bonferroni adjustment. There were also no significant differences between groups at final for behavioural outcomes. Conclusions OPAL did not have a significant impact on the proportion of 9 to 11-year-olds in the healthy weight range, nor children’s BMI z-score, HRQoL and behaviours. Long-term, flexible community-based program evaluation approaches are required . Trial registration ACTRN12616000477426 (12th April 2016, retrospectively registered).

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THE QUALITY OF LIFE SELF-ASSESMENT OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

BALTIC HUMANITARIAN JOURNAL ◽

10.26140/bgz3-2021-1002-0015 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (35) ◽

Author(s):

E.Y VOLCHEGORSKAYA ◽

◽

A.A KOCHETOVA ◽

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ◽

Primary School ◽

School Children ◽

Attention Deficit ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Hyperactivity Disorder

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Violencia escolar y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en niños de escuelas primarias

Revista de Educación Básica ◽

10.35429/jbe.2020.12.4.1.7 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Jesús Alberto García-García ◽

Larissa Osornia-Ramón ◽

José Ricardo Ramírez-Cerecero ◽

Gabriela Morán-Delgado

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Primary School ◽

School Violence ◽

School Children ◽

Well Being ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

The objective of this article is to analyze the dimensions of school violence and its impact on the health-related quality of life of primary school children at social risk in the city of Saltillo, Coahuila. The methodology used is quantitative, observational, cross-sectional, prospective and descriptive. The information was collected through two instruments, CUVE3-EP to measure School Violence and KIDSCREEN-27 for Health-Related Quality of Life, where 416 children aged 5 and 6 were taken as a sample. Primary education. The sampling method used is convenience sampling. The statistical techniques used were descriptive, correlational and comparative. The contribution of the study starts from the identification of the different types of school violence and its association with the quality of life of primary school children. Being verbal violence between students a factor that decreases psychological well-being, as well as their autonomy and relationship with parents.

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Fast Food, Snacking and Health-related Quality of Life among Overweight and Obese Primary School Children of MyBFF@school Intervention Program

10.31124/advance.9601184.v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Zahari Ishak ◽

Suet Fin Low ◽

Wan Abdul Hakim Wan Ibrahim ◽

Abqariyah Yahya ◽

Fuziah Md. Zain ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Primary School ◽

School Children ◽

Fast Food ◽

Well Being ◽

Primary School Children ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between fast foods and snacks consumption with the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among 1138 overweight and obese primary school children with mean(SD) age of 9.9(0.9) years old. Data was collected at baseline in which the frequency of fast food consumption (FFC) and snacking in the past week were measured using a pre-tested nutritional knowledge, attitude and practice questionnaire whereas the HRQOL was measured using the KINDLR questionnaire. Spearman’s rank order correlation found significant negative association between FFC and emotional well-being (rs=-0.066, p<.05). Significant negative associations were also observed between snacking frequency with physical well-being (rs=-0.071, p<.05) and emotional well being (rs=-0.073, p<.05). The findings from this study suggest that the physical well-being and emotional well-being of overweight and obese children could be attributed to the FFC and snacking. Therefore, these type of foods should not be encouraged to be included in children’s diet.

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