Background: Developing and evaluating interventions to influence students' opportunities for healthful choices has been a focus of school-based health promotion research; however, few studies have examined the sustainability of these programs and viability of continued organizational implementation.

Methods: The purpose of this study was to determine the maintenance of Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) school-level changes in former intervention (n = 56) and former comparison (n = 20) schools 5 years post-intervention. Twelve schools unexposed to CATCH were measured as controls. Macronutrient content of 5 days of school lunch menus, amount and type of physical education (PE) classes, and health instruction practices in the classroom were assessed. An institutionalization score for schools was developed, using program maintenance variables: % kcal from fat and saturated fat in school lunches, % PE class spent in vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and class time devoted to CATCH topics.

Results: Menus from 50% of former intervention cafeterias met the Eat Smart guidelines for fat, compared to 10% of former control cafeterias and 17% of unexposed school cafeterias (P < 0.005). There were no significant differences in implementation of CATCH PE goals between conditions. Although the total time spent teaching CATCH was low in former CATCH schools, the former intervention schools spent significantly more time teaching CATCH and taught more lessons as compared to former comparison schools. Former intervention schools had a higher mean institutionalization score than former comparison schools (P < 0.001). Training had the greatest impact on maintenance of CATCH.

Conclusions: Results from this study suggest that changes in the school environment to support healthful behaviors can be maintained over time. Staff training is an important factor in achieving institutionalization of these programs.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2003.11.017DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

comparison schools
12
school-based health
8
maintained time
8
catch
8
schools
8
institutionalization score
8
teaching catch
8
schools intervention
8
intervention schools
8
time
5

Similar Publications

Comparison of AI applications and anesthesiologist's anesthesia method choices.

BMC Anesthesiol

January 2025

Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Mardin Artuklu University School of Medicine, Diyarbakır Road, Artuklu, Mardin, 47100, Turkey.

Background: In medicine, Artificial intelligence has begun to be utilized in nearly every domain, from medical devices to the interpretation of imaging studies. There is still a need for more experience and more studies related to the comprehensive use of AI in medicine. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the ability of AI to make decisions regarding anesthesia methods and to compare the most popular AI programs from this perspective.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a zoonosis infection which is endemic in more than 100 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and America. It was estimated that nearly 20 thousand of new cases are reported in Iran annually. This study aimed to investigate the impact of floods on the incidence of leishmaniasis in Golestan province (northeast of Iran) over nine years, from 2015 to 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In China many respiratory pathogens stayed low activities amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to strict measures and controls. We here aimed to study the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pediatric inpatients with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) after the mandatory COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, in comparison to those before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We here included 4,296 pediatric patients with MPP, hospitalized by two medical centers in Jiangsu Province, China, from January 2015 to March 2024.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study explores the question whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) can outperform human experts in animal pain recognition using sheep as a case study. It uses a dataset of N = 48 sheep undergoing surgery with video recordings taken before (no pain) and after (pain) surgery. Four veterinary experts used two types of pain scoring scales: the sheep facial expression scale (SFPES) and the Unesp-Botucatu composite behavioral scale (USAPS), which is the 'golden standard' in sheep pain assessment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Obesity and type 2 diabetes are prevalent chronic diseases effectively managed by semaglutide. Here we studied the effects of semaglutide on the circulating proteome using baseline and end-of-treatment serum samples from two phase 3 trials in participants with overweight or obesity, with or without diabetes: STEP 1 (n = 1,311) and STEP 2 (n = 645). We identified evidence supporting broad effects of semaglutide, implicating processes related to body weight regulation, glycemic control, lipid metabolism and inflammatory pathways.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!