Evaluating the impact of a school-based health intervention using a randomized field experiment

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Promotion
• Econometrics

Background:

• School-based health promotion programs are crucial for addressing childhood obesity.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of such programs using rigorous methods is essential for evidence-based practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an econometric evaluation of a comprehensive health promotion program in Danish primary and lower secondary schools.
• To assess the program's impact on student Body Mass Index (BMI), waist-to-height ratio, overweight, and obesity.

Main Methods:

• Randomized controlled trial design with treatment and control groups.
• Econometric analysis using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Difference-in-Differences (DID) models.
• Analysis of pre- and post-intervention data, stratified by gender and grade.

Main Results:

• No consistent statistically significant effects of the program on the entire sample.
• Marginally significant DID estimates suggested a 1% point reduction in obesity risk.
• Subgroup analyses revealed some statistically significant, but not robust, effects on BMI and obesity risk for specific genders and grades.

Conclusions:

• The evaluated school health promotion program demonstrated limited overall effectiveness in improving student health indicators.
• While some specific subgroup effects were observed, they were not statistically significant after correcting for multiple testing.
• Further research may be needed to refine school-based health interventions for greater impact.