Background:
Previous research has shown that parents influence their children’s eating behaviors. However, associations between the consent of both parent and child to health screenings and the child’s health behaviors have not yet been determined. This study aims to determine the effect of participation in a health screening and education program on the self-reported behaviors of middle-school students.
Methods:
Data were collected from 3049 middle-school students enrolled in Project Healthy Schools (PHS). Students were assigned a group based on their level of participation in a health screening. Group 1 (n=608) was defined as students and parents who consented to a finger stick to obtain a lipid profile, blood pressure, resting and recovery heart rate, and a behavioral survey. Group 2 (n=149) was defined as students and parents who agreed to all aspects of the screening except the lipid profile (finger stick). Group 3 (n=2292) was defined as students (+/- parents) who chose not to be screened but did complete the behavioral survey. The primary outcome examined was the change in health habits from baseline to post intervention.
Results:
At baseline Group 1 reported eating more vegetables (p=.044), drinking less high-sugar, non-soda beverages (p=.012), participating in more school-sponsored sports (p≤.001), and demonstrating less sedentary screen time (p≤.001) than students in Groups 2 and 3. Post PHS wellness intervention, Group 3 reported the largest decrease in soda consumption (p=.010) and sedentary behaviors (TV time (p=.001), video game time (p≤.001), and computer time (p=.003)).
Conclusion:
Parental consent was shown to be associated with higher levels of healthy behaviors at baseline. However, the group without parental consent demonstrated significant positive changes in health behaviors, suggesting a school-based intervention is particularly important amongst children with potentially less parental involvement. Further research is warranted to determine the extent to which parental participation, attitude and knowledge affects children’s health behaviors.
Construct Equivalence and Latent Means Analysis of Health Behaviors Between Male and Female Middle School Students