Evaluation of the healthy schools program: Part I. Interim progress.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Childhood Obesity Prevention
• School Health Programs

Background:

• Federal and state policies recognize schools as key settings for childhood obesity prevention.
• Schools require enhanced health-promoting strategies to effectively combat this issue.
• The Healthy Schools Program targets schools serving predominantly low-income, African American, or Hispanic students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the interim progress of schools participating in the Healthy Schools Program.
• To assess the program's effectiveness in implementing health-promoting strategies within schools.

Main Methods:

• An inventory of 8 content areas (policy, nutrition, physical activity, etc.) was administered to school representatives.
• Data from schools enrolled in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years were assessed in 2010.
• Baseline inventory data were compared to the most recent inventory data using t-tests.

Main Results:

• Schools demonstrated significant positive changes across all 8 assessed content areas.
• The observed effect sizes for these changes were moderate to large.
• These findings indicate substantial progress in schools' efforts to prevent childhood obesity.

Conclusions:

• Schools participating in the Healthy Schools Program successfully enhanced their environmental policies and practices.
• The program serves as a valuable resource for implementing current federal and state policies on childhood obesity prevention.