The "Planning Health in School" Programme (PHS-pro) to Improve Healthy Eating and Physical Activity: Design,...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health
• Public Health Interventions
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern with limited effective interventions.
• Existing knowledge on healthy eating and active living needs translation into actionable strategies for children.
• There is a need for well-designed, multi-strategy interventions to prevent childhood obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design, implement, and evaluate the
• Planning Health in School
• (PHS-pro) educational program.
• To improve eating behaviors and lifestyles of Portuguese grade-6 children for healthier nutritional status.
• To examine new approaches for effective childhood overweight and obesity prevention.

Main Methods:

• Grounded the research design in the Transtheoretical Model and stages of change.
• Employed participatory methodology to engage children as active participants in their change process.
• Conducted a process evaluation of the intervention, incorporating participant feedback.

Main Results:

• The PHS-pro program was designed and implemented with a focus on educational components and participatory methods.
• Participant views and inputs were considered in evaluating the educational strategies.
• The intervention aimed to facilitate behavior change towards healthier nutritional status.

Conclusions:

• The PHS-pro program offers a novel approach to childhood obesity prevention by integrating theoretical frameworks with participatory methods.
• Evaluating interventions based on participant feedback is crucial for designing effective health promotion strategies.
• This study contributes to understanding pathways for preventing childhood overweight and obesity through school-based programs.