scholarly journals Health and nutrition education in primary schools of Crete: changes in chronic disease risk factors following a 6-year intervention programme

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannis Manios ◽  
Joanna Moschandreas ◽  
Christos Hatzis ◽  
Anthony Kafatos
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Intervention Programme ◽  
Chronic Disease Risk ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
School Based ◽  
Health And Nutrition Education

The effectiveness of a health and nutrition education programme, in changing certain chronic disease risk factors, was assessed after the 6 years intervention period was completed. The school-based intervention programme was applied to all children registered in the first grade (age 5·5–6·5 years) in 1992 in two counties of Crete, while the children from a third county served as a control group. In order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention, a variety of biological and behavioural parameters were measured before and following completion of the intervention in a randomly selected school-based sample of 602 intervention group (IG) and 444 control group (CG) pupils. At the end of the 6-year period, it was found that biochemical indices generally improved significantly more in the IG compared with the CG (mean change for IGv.CG was -0·27v.-0·12 mmol/l for total cholesterol (TC); -0·07v.+0·24 for TC:HDL and -0·13v.+0·14 for LDL:HDL). Similarly, the changes observed in the anthropometric variables in the two groups were in favour of the IG (+3·68v.+4·28 kg/m2for BMI; +2·97v.+4·47 mm for biceps skinfold). Total energy intake and consumption of total fat and saturated fat increased significantly less in the IG compared with the CG (+747·7v.1534·7 kJ (+178·7v.+366·8 kcal); +5·9v.+18·8 g and +0·8v.+5·1 g respectively), while time devoted to leisure time physical activity and cardiovascular run test performance increased significantly more in the IG (+281v.+174 min/week and +2·5v.+1·2 stages respectively). The findings of the present study underline the importance of such programmes in health promotion and disease prevention. Although the long-term effects of these programmes can only be assessed by tracking this population through to adolescence and adulthood, these programmes seem to have the potential to lead to a healthier lifestyle and thus a reduction in risk factor levels.

scholarly journals A Web-Based Intervention to Prevent Multiple Chronic Disease Risk Factors Among Adolescents: Co-Design and User Testing of the Health4Life School-Based Program (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Elizabeth Champion ◽  
Lauren Anne Gardner ◽  
Cyanna McGowan ◽  
Cath Chapman ◽  
Louise Thornton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
User Testing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Chronic Disease Risk ◽  
School Based ◽  
Lifestyle Risk

BACKGROUND Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Addressing key lifestyle risk factors during adolescence is critical for improving physical and mental health outcomes and reducing chronic disease risk. Schools are ideal intervention settings, and electronic health (eHealth) interventions afford several advantages, including increased student engagement, scalability, and sustainability. Although lifestyle risk behaviors tend to co-occur, few school-based eHealth interventions have targeted multiple behaviors concurrently. OBJECTIVE This study aims to summarize the co-design and user testing of the Health4Life school-based program, a web-based cartoon intervention developed to concurrently prevent 6 key lifestyle risk factors for chronic disease among secondary school students: alcohol use, smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, sedentary recreational screen time, and poor sleep (the <i>Big 6</i>). METHODS The development of the Health4Life program was conducted over 18 months in collaboration with students, teachers, and researchers with expertise relevant to the Big 6. The iterative process involved (1) scoping of evidence and systematic literature review; (2) consultation with adolescents (N=815) via a cross-sectional web-based survey to identify knowledge gaps, attitudes, barriers, and facilitators in relation to the Big 6; (3) content and web development; and (4) user testing of the web-based program with students (n=41) and teachers (n=8) to evaluate its acceptability, relevance, and appeal to the target audience. RESULTS The co-design process resulted in a six-module, evidence-informed program that uses interactive cartoon storylines and web-based delivery to engage students. Student and teacher feedback collected during user testing was positive in terms of acceptability and relevance. Commonly identified areas for improvement concerned the length of modules, age appropriateness of language and alcohol storyline, the need for character backstories and links to syllabus information, and feasibility of implementation. Modifications were made to address these issues. CONCLUSIONS The Health4Life school-based program is the first universal, web-based program to concurrently address 6 important chronic disease risk factors among secondary school students. By adopting a multiple health behavior change approach, it has the potential to efficiently modify the Big 6 risk factors within one program and to equip young people with the skills and knowledge needed to achieve and maintain good physical and mental health throughout adolescence and into adulthood.

scholarly journals A Web-Based Intervention to Prevent Multiple Chronic Disease Risk Factors Among Adolescents: Co-Design and User Testing of the Health4Life School-Based Program

10.2196/19485 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (7) ◽  
pp. e19485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina Elizabeth Champion ◽  
Lauren Anne Gardner ◽  
Cyanna McGowan ◽  
Cath Chapman ◽  
Louise Thornton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
User Testing ◽  
School Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Chronic Disease Risk ◽  
School Based ◽  
Lifestyle Risk

Background Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. Addressing key lifestyle risk factors during adolescence is critical for improving physical and mental health outcomes and reducing chronic disease risk. Schools are ideal intervention settings, and electronic health (eHealth) interventions afford several advantages, including increased student engagement, scalability, and sustainability. Although lifestyle risk behaviors tend to co-occur, few school-based eHealth interventions have targeted multiple behaviors concurrently. Objective This study aims to summarize the co-design and user testing of the Health4Life school-based program, a web-based cartoon intervention developed to concurrently prevent 6 key lifestyle risk factors for chronic disease among secondary school students: alcohol use, smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, sedentary recreational screen time, and poor sleep (the Big 6). Methods The development of the Health4Life program was conducted over 18 months in collaboration with students, teachers, and researchers with expertise relevant to the Big 6. The iterative process involved (1) scoping of evidence and systematic literature review; (2) consultation with adolescents (N=815) via a cross-sectional web-based survey to identify knowledge gaps, attitudes, barriers, and facilitators in relation to the Big 6; (3) content and web development; and (4) user testing of the web-based program with students (n=41) and teachers (n=8) to evaluate its acceptability, relevance, and appeal to the target audience. Results The co-design process resulted in a six-module, evidence-informed program that uses interactive cartoon storylines and web-based delivery to engage students. Student and teacher feedback collected during user testing was positive in terms of acceptability and relevance. Commonly identified areas for improvement concerned the length of modules, age appropriateness of language and alcohol storyline, the need for character backstories and links to syllabus information, and feasibility of implementation. Modifications were made to address these issues. Conclusions The Health4Life school-based program is the first universal, web-based program to concurrently address 6 important chronic disease risk factors among secondary school students. By adopting a multiple health behavior change approach, it has the potential to efficiently modify the Big 6 risk factors within one program and to equip young people with the skills and knowledge needed to achieve and maintain good physical and mental health throughout adolescence and into adulthood.

Physician Advice to Reduce Chronic Disease Risk Factors

1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 367-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Friedman ◽  
Ross C. Brownson ◽  
Dan E. Peterson ◽  
Joan C. Wilkerson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Chronic Disease Risk ◽  
Physician Advice

scholarly journals A Community-based Lifestyle Education Program Addressing Non-communicable Diseases in Low-literacy Areas of the South Pacific: A Pilot Control Cohort Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Lillian Kent ◽  
Pia Reierson ◽  
Darren Morton ◽  
Kesa Vasutoga ◽  
Paul Rankin
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Chronic Disease ◽  
Group Process ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Intervention Village ◽  
Control Village

Lifestyle interventions can effectively reduce chronic disease risk factors. This study examined the effectiveness of an established lifestyle intervention contextualized for low-literacy communities in Fiji. Ninety-six adults from four villages, with waist circumference (WC) indicative of risk of chronic disease, were randomly selected to an intervention or control group. Process evaluation indicated one intervention and one control village fulfilled the study protocol. There were no differences between intervention and control for body mass index BMI (P = 0.696), WC (P = 0.662), total cholesterol (TC) (P = 0.386), and TC:high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio (P = 0.485). The intervention village achieved greater reductions than the control village at 30 and 90 days for systolic blood pressure (30 days: −11.1% vs. −2.5%, P = 0.006; 90 days: −14.5% vs. −6.7%, P = 0.019); pulse rate (30 days: −7.0% vs. −1.1%, P = 0.866; 90 days: −7.1% vs. 4.3%, P = 0.027), and HDL (30 days: −13.9% vs. 1.7%, P = 0.206; 90 days: −18.9% vs. 2.2%, P = 0.001); at 90 days only for diastolic blood pressure (−14.4% vs. −0.2%, P = 0.010); at 30 days only for low-density lipoprotein (−11.6% vs. 8.0%, P = 0.009); and fasting plasma glucose (−10.2% vs. 4.3%, P = 0.032). However, for triglycerides, the control achieved greater reductions than the intervention village at 30 days (35.4% vs. −12.3%, P = 0.008; marginal at 90 days 16.4% vs. −23.5%, P = 0.054). This study provides preliminary evidence of the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the intervention to lower several risk factors for chronic disease over 30 days in rural settings in Fiji and supports consideration of larger studies.

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