 |
|
Promoting Healthy Weight Among Elementary School Children via a Health Report Card Approach
Virginia R. Chomitz, PhD;
Jessica Collins, MS;
Juhee Kim, MS;
Ellen Kramer, ScD, RD;
Robert McGowan, EdD
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157:765-772.
Background As overweight continues to rise among children, schools seek effective and sensitive ways to engage parents in promoting healthy weight.
Objective To evaluate a school-based health report card on the family awareness of and concern about the child weight status, plans for weight control, and preventive behaviors.
Design Quasi-experimental field trial with a personalized weight and fitness health report card intervention (PI), a general-information intervention (GI), and a control group (CG). Outcomes were assessed using a postintervention telephone survey, including process and outcome measures.
Participants The intervention included 1396 ethnically diverse students at 4 elementary schools in an urban area. Telephone surveys were completed by 399 families from an evaluation sample of 793.
Intervention Families were randomly assigned to the PI, GI, or CG and mailed intervention materials. The CG was mailed GI materials after the survey.
Main Outcome Measures Parent awareness of child weight status, concerns, weight-control plans, and preventive behaviors. Group effects were significantly different by the child's weight status, so results were stratified.
Results Among overweight students, intervention parents were more likely to know their child's weight status (PI, 44%; GI, 41%; CG, 23%) (P = .02). The PI parents planned medical help (PI, 25%; GI, 7%; CG, 9%) (P = .004), dieting activities (PI, 19%; GI and CG, <5 cases) (P = .02) and physical activities (PI, 42%; GI, 27%; CG, 13%) (P<.001) for their overweight children. No group effect on concern or preventive behaviors was detected. Most parents of overweight children who read materials requested annual weight and health information on their child (PI, 91%; GI, 67%).
Conclusions Among overweight children, the PI was associated with increased parental awareness of their child's weight status. Although parents wanted PI for their children, more research is needed to test this approach on children's self-esteem and plans for weight control.
From the Institute for Community Health (Drs Chomitz and Kramer and Ms Kim) and the Physical Education Department, Cambridge Public Schools (Dr McGowan), Cambridge, Mass; and Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University (Ms Collins), and the Harvard School of Public Health (Ms Kim), Boston Mass.
 CiteULike  Connotea  Del.icio.us  Digg  Reddit  Technorati
What's this?
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
|
No Change in Weight-Based Teasing When School-Based Obesity Policies Are Implemented
Krukowski et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2008;162:936-942.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Telling Parents Their Child's Weight Status: Psychological Impact of a Weight-Screening Program
Grimmett et al.
Pediatrics 2008;122:e682-e688.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Accurate Parental Classification of Overweight Adolescents' Weight Status: Does It Matter?
Neumark-Sztainer et al.
Pediatrics 2008;121:e1495-e1502.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Incidence and Remission Rates of Overweight Among Children Aged 5 to 13 Years in a District-Wide School Surveillance System
Kim et al.
Am. J. Public Health 2005;95:1588-1594.
ABSTRACT
| FULL TEXT
Obesity among Black Adolescent Girls: Genetic, Psychosocial, and Cultural Influences
Alleyne and LaPoint
Journal of Black Psychology 2004;30:344-365.
ABSTRACT
Health Report Cards: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?
Denehy
The Journal of School Nursing 2004;20:125-126.
FULL TEXT
Arkansas hopes to be a leader in nationwide fight against obesity: 'We're missing something on our watch'
Kennedy
AAP News 2004;24:14-14.
FULL TEXT
Aspects of Childhood Obesity
JWatch General 2003;2003:3-3.
FULL TEXT
|
