Obesity Prevention
Program Aimed At Second Graders
A groundbreaking program in
Colorado is tackling the problem using an integrated science education
enrichment program and child-to-parent communications
April 9, 2003 (San Diego, CA) -- Some 20 years
ago, children would hike, play basketball, and leave the house to play –
only coming back when dinner was ready.
Now, in many communities, open spaces have been filled
with town houses and condominiums, playgrounds have been closed due to fear
of possible litigation, and the increasing threats to child safety have put
an end to young people exploring to their heart’s content. In the 21st
century, children eat more and exercise less.
Unfortunately, the computer and television have become
the best friends of too many of our children. The result is not only
sociologically significant – it is also physically deadly.
The Centers for Disease Control now estimates that more
than 60 percent of American adults are overweight, while almost one out of
three is obese. In the last 20 years, the proportion of overweight children
between ages 6 and 19 has tripled, to nearly one of every three kids. In
December, 2001, Surgeon General David Satcher stated that 300,000 deaths per
year are associated with overweight and obesity, and projected the annual
public health cost of this condition at $117 billion, due to the
life-threatening complications of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease,
cancer, kidney failure and many other ailments.
A groundbreaking program in Colorado is tackling this
problem head-on. An integrated science education enrichment program
(Program ENERGY) has been established to reduce the rate of obesity and type
2 diabetes in elementary school students. Program Energy is funded by the
National Center for Research Resources, National Institutes of Health (NCRR/NIH)
Science Education Partnership Award “ Shaping Health Behaviors Through
Science Enrichment.” Past research has demonstrated that prevention of
obesity and type 2 diabetes can be achieved by healthy eating and active
living. Teaching children to incorporate the elements of a healthy
lifestyle is necessary to reduce these two preventable chronic diseases.
There are two components to this intervention/outreach
effort: (1) The main enrichment program uses “Scientists in the Classroom”
to lead “hands-on” challenging and fun lessons providing information about
a healthy lifestyle, how the body works and science; and (2) research effort
to use child to parent communication to increase parents’ physical activity
and knowledge about diabetes and the three keys to prevention: maintaining a
healthy weight, being physically active, and eating a healthy diet.
Program ENERGY provides inquiry-based educational
enrichment in science and math using examples and exercises from food,
nutrition, physical activity, biology of body weight and blood sugar
regulation and seeks to teach and reinforce healthy behavioral choices.
These activities are developed, coordinated and led by a team of university
biomedical scientists and elementary educators. The initiative is the
result of an active partnership between educators, university scientists and
students that is conducted through the Dept of Food Science & Human
Nutrition at Colorado State University. Partners include: Poudre School
District, Culinary Arts Program of Johnson & Wales University, Denver Museum
of Nature and Science, Children's Museum in Denver and Discovery Science
Center in Ft. Collins. Additional partners are the American Cancer Society,
9HealthFair, Poudre Valley Health Foundation, Walk4Life, Wild Oats market,
local businesses and restaurants.
First year outcomes will be presented in detail during
the American Physiological Society’s (APS) annual meeting by the
investigating team. The team is comprise of Francoise J. Smith, Gladys
Posada-Johnson, Kelley Kiernan, Emily Minor and L. Arthur Campfield, all of
the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, College of Applied Human
Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. Their presentation
is part of the "Experimental Biology 2003” conference, which is being
co-sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS). More than 10,000
attendees are expected to attend the conference being held in San Diego from
April 11-14, 2003.
Methodology
A diverse team of classroom activity leaders
(biomedical scientists, health professionals, farmers, chefs), joined
undergraduate and graduate students to present the program to elementary
school classrooms throughout the school year. During year 1, weekly
classroom (60 min) and physical (30 min) activities and a 90 min after
school program and occasional science museum-based events were conducted in
two second and one first grade classes at Putnam Elementary School in Ft.
Collins, CO. This school is approximately 50 percent Hispanic American with
70 percent eligibility for the school lunch program and has unmet
educational needs in science and health. A similar school (Harris) was
chosen as the control.
Each week the enrichment program provided interactive,
"hands-on", fun, and challenging educational science enrichment activities.
Lessons included: nutrition/science games, growing plants, sugar
investigation, diversity, energy balance and healthy snacks. Classroom
visits by a chef, nurse, and cultural anthropologist occurred. A field trip
allowed the active exploration of interactive exhibits at the Hall of Life
in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Baseline and year-end
assessments were obtained through measuring body mass index (BMI), waist
circumference, health and science (nutrition, food and physical activity
surveys) knowledge, attitudes and physical activity (by pedometer).
Second grade students enrolled at the Putnam (n=47) and
Harris (35) schools. At the end of year 1, 87 percent and 97 percent of the
students remained at the intervention and control schools, respectively.
Students and classroom educators rated all activities. The students’ ratings
ranged from 47 percent -98 percent “awesome” and 2 percent - 11 percent “did
not like” for the classroom activities and from 62 percent - 82 percent
“awesome” and 0 percent - 9 percent “did not like” for physical activities.
Results
Year 1 pre and post tests showed meaningful increases
in: health and science knowledge, attitudes (e.g., increased appreciation of
healthy food selection and physical activity) and behaviors (e.g., increased
steps by approximately 2 miles/day , increased body acceptance). In
conclusion, Program ENERGY is the result of an active community-university
partnership and is increasing health and science knowledge, changing
attitudes and changing health behaviors of elementary school students.
Diabetes Knowledge and
Physical Activity Increase Through Child to Parent Communication
The purpose of this project was to increase diabetes
knowledge and physical activity through child –to--parent communication,
leading to prevention of Type 2 diabetes.
Methodology
All 14 participants involved in the study were parents
of two second grade classes (7-8 years old) taking part in an obesity and
diabetes prevention program: Program ENERGY. Participants completed two pre
and post-intervention surveys. Surveys assessed participants’ knowledge
regarding diabetes and self-reported physical activity levels. The six-week
intervention used colorful, one-page, double-sided newsletters to inform
participants about diabetes and how it can be prevented. They were sent home
weekly with all second grade students enrolled in Program ENERGY. Students
also brought home a weekly “challenge” aimed at promoting family physical
activity. Each challenge included tasks to increase physical activity and
diabetes knowledge. Students were rewarded points for completing the
challenges with their families. These points were converted to miles to
complete a virtual trek from Fort Collins, CO to Disney World, Fl.
Results
Intervention showed a significant increase in diabetes
knowledge among the parent participants. In addition, results from the
self-reported physical activity surveys showed significant increases in
walking, moderate and total physical activity. Walking increased from a
mean of 61 minutes per week to 114 minutes per week. Moderate physical
activity increased from 92 minutes per week to 168 minutes per week. In
addition, both of the second grade classes earned enough challenge points
(4750 virtual miles) to complete the virtual trek, indicating increased
parental and family physical activity.
Conclusions
The implications of this
initiative are potentially important for the prevention of type 2 diabetes
and obesity in children and adults in schools and homes throughout the
nation. First, this intervention provides a feasible, easily reproducible,
relatively low-cost and effective method to increase diabetes knowledge and
parental and family physical activity. This intervention could be replicated
in any school or school district. Second, the results of this study will
provide awareness that knowledge about diabetes and its prevention, and
family physical activity can be increased and provide a model and
encouragement to others to aggressively provide similar interventions.
Third, based on the success of the child to parent communication in this
study, this hypothesis and its experimental testing has been incorporated
into Program ENERGY.
Overall, the study increased diabetes knowledge and
physical activity. This shows that a six-week intervention based on brief
newsletters and motivational challenges is effective in increasing knowledge
and physical activity through child to parent communication.
-end-
The American
Physiological Society (APS) is one of the world’s most prestigious
organizations for physiological scientists. These researchers specialize in
understanding the processes and functions underlying human health and
disease. Founded in 1887 the Bethesda, MD-based Society has more than
10,000 members and publishes 3,800 articles in its 14 peer-reviewed journals
each year.
***
Editor’s
Note: For receive a copy of the abstract, or to schedule an interview with a
member of the research team, please contact Donna Krupa at 703.967.2751
(cell), 703.527.7357 (office) or at
djkrupa1@aol.com.
