Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Programming in Schools to Support Student’s Health-Related Fitness: An Observational Study

Timothy J. Walker, Derek W. Craig, Andjelka Pavlovic, Shelby Thiele, Breanna Natale, Jacob Szeszulski, Laura F. DeFina and Harold W. Kohl
Additional contact information
Timothy J. Walker: Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin St., Houston, TX 77030, USA
Derek W. Craig: Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin St., Houston, TX 77030, USA
Andjelka Pavlovic: Division of Youth Education, The Cooper Institute, 12330 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75230, USA
Shelby Thiele: Division of Youth Education, The Cooper Institute, 12330 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75230, USA
Breanna Natale: Division of Youth Education, The Cooper Institute, 12330 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75230, USA
Jacob Szeszulski: Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin St., Houston, TX 77030, USA
Laura F. DeFina: Division of Youth Education, The Cooper Institute, 12330 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75230, USA
Harold W. Kohl: Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus, Austin, TX 78701, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 21, 1-14

Abstract: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines recommend schools use a coordinated health approach to support healthy eating and physical activity. This study examines whether the number of healthy eating and physical activity programs and activities used by schools and their perceived success relate to students’ health-related fitness. This observational study used data from the Healthy Zone Schools Program. Data (collected in 2017–2019) were integrated from three sources: (1) school surveys, (2) FitnessGram ® , and (3) the Texas Education Agency. Independent variables were the number of health promotion programs and activities and their perceived success; dependent variables were meeting Healthy Fitness Zone Standards (HFZ) for aerobic capacity and body mass index (BMI). We used mixed-effects logistic regression models. Fifty-six schools were in the analytic sample ( n = 15,096 students with aerobic capacity data and n = 19,969 with BMI data). Results indicated the perceived success of physical activity programs/activities was significantly associated with students meeting HFZ standards for aerobic capacity (OR = 1.32, CI = 1.06–1.63). There was a significant direct association between the number of physical activity and healthy eating activities implemented (OR = 1.04, CI = 1.01–1.06) and students meeting HFZ for BMI. Schools using multiple health programs and activities need to balance the number provided with their capacity to maintain success.

Keywords: physical activity; nutrition; schools; healthy eating; implementation; physical fitness; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11069/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11069/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:21:p:11069-:d:661558

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().