Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Dissemination of Action Schools! BC

Summary

Childhood obesity is a major public health threat. Physical activity and healthy eating contribute to the maintenance of healthy weights. Individually oriented behaviour change programs may not be able to overcome the influence of what has been called an obesogenic environment. Action Schools! BC (AS! BC) used a socio-ecological approach to enhance opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating in elementary schools and created systemic change at the provincial level. AS! BC helps elementary schools customize action plans, based upon their local context, to contribute to the health and well-being of children and the school community. Pilot research showed that AS! BC was an effective and feasible model. The provincial dissemination of AS! BC has been launched and partners from across many sectors are involved to enhance the sharing of knowledge and increase the implementation of the AS! BC model across British Columbia. The dissemination provides an unprecedented opportunity for evaluating how changing the school environment can promoted healthy weights in children. The dissemination was evaluated using a cluster randomized design; 30 elementary schools (n = 1529 consented children) from four (out of five) provincial health authorities volunteered to participate.

The primary goals of the research are:

1. to determine if the Action Schools! BC (AS! BC) model is an effective approach to positively change school environments and health related behaviours of children from diverse geographical regions and cultural groups, and
2. to determine if the supports provided to schools or the community context influence the uptake and use of the AS! BC model.

This research will contribute to the science of obesity prevention and knowledge use as well as public health practice.

Conditions

• Physical Activity
• Obesity
• Physical Fitness

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Action Schools! BC

AS! BC applies a socioecological, whole school approach to promote healthy living within the elementary school context. Schools are provided with the tools and support needed to create customized action plans that promote physical activity (PA) and healthy living across six Action Zones (School Environment, Scheduled Physical Education (PE), Classroom Action, Family and Community, Extra-curricular, School Spirit). Generalist teachers receive training and resources to implement their Action Plan with the ultimate goal of providing students with 150 minutes of PA/week. The model is choice-based; teachers are asked to provide 15 additional minutes of PA/day within the Classroom Action Zone. The activities require minimal equipment and can be performed in the classroom, hallway or on the school playground.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Victoria

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Waterloo

  collaborator OTHER

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada

  collaborator OTHER

• Ministry of Education, British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER

• Ministry of Health, British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts, British Columbia

  collaborator OTHER

• Provincial Health Services Authority

  collaborator OTHER

• JW Sporta

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• 2010 Legacies Now

  collaborator OTHER

• University of British Columbia

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• PJ Naylor, PhD · University of Victoria

• Heather A McKay, PhD · University of British Columbia

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

8 Years

Max Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2005-04-30

Primary Completion

2007-06-30

Completion

2007-06-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations