Implementing Environmental Changes in Elementary Schools

University of Colorado: Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center

Topics:
Diabetes | Nutrition & Physical Activity for Youth | Obesity & Overweight | School Health

In one school district of San Luis Valley, Colorado, about 26% of second grade students are overweight or at risk for obesity as a result of unhealthy eating habits and insufficient physical activity. To reduce this risk, researchers are implementing a project that helps schools make changes in their procedures, policies, food environment, and physical layout to promote healthy food choices and increased physical activity.

Ten elementary schools in the San Luis Valley are participating, each of which has a high proportion of low-income and Hispanic children. Schools are asked to form a task force comprising school nurses, food service managers, physical education teachers, administrators, classroom teachers, and parents. To make changes to the school environment and policies, half of the schools are using Intervention Mapping (IM) as their planning process and the other half are using CDC’s School Health Index (SHI). Center staff are facilitating the project in IM schools throughout the planning process. The task forces are being taught to use IM to select, implement, and evaluate environmental and policy changes appropriate for their school. These changes may include requiring daily physical education classes, removing sugar-sweetened sodas from vending machines, and creating a school walking path.

Researchers will measure school environment health, the changes made, and whether the changes affect individual health behaviors. To measure the health of the school environment, schools complete the School Environment and Policy Survey annually. To measure health behaviors, center staff are observing students’ physical activity during physical education classes and recess, and assessing foods eaten in the lunchroom. Researchers will also conduct interviews with task force members to evaluate the effectiveness of the IM process as a tool for community-academic partnerships.

 

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