Dataset Information

State school nutrition and physical activity policy environments and youth obesity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

With the epidemic of childhood obesity, there is national interest in state-level school policies related to nutrition and physical activity, policies adopted by states, and relationships to youth obesity.

Purpose

This study develops a comprehensive state-level approach to characterize the overall obesity prevention policy environment for schools and links the policy environments to youth obesity for each state.

Methods

Using 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) state data, qualitative and quantitative methods were used (2008-2009) to construct domains of state-level school obesity prevention policies and practices, establish the validity and reliability of the domain scales, and examine their associations with state-level obesity prevalence among youth aged 10-17 years from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health.

Results

Nearly 250 state-level obesity prevention-policy questions were identified from the SHPPS. Three broad policy topic areas containing 100 food service and nutrition (FSN) questionnaire items; 146 physical activity and education (PAE) items; and two weight assessment (WA) items were selected. Principal components analysis and content validity assessment were used to further categorize the items into six FSN, ten PAE, and one WA domain. Using a proportional scaled score to summarize the number of policies adopted by states, it was found that on average states adopted about half of the FSN (49%), 38% of the PAE, and 17% of the WA policies examined. After adjusting for state-level measures of ethnicity and income, the average proportion of FSN policies adopted by states was correlated with the prevalence of youth obesity at r =0.35 (p=0.01). However, no correlation was found between either PAE or WA policies and youth obesity (PAE policies at r =0.02 [p=0.53] and WA policies at r =0.16 [p=0.40]).

Conclusions

States appear to be doing a better job adopting FSN policies than PA or WA policies, and adoption of policies is correlated with youth obesity. Continued monitoring of these policies seems to be warranted.

SUBMITTER: Nanney MS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3273864 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

State school nutrition and physical activity policy environments and youth obesity.

Nanney Marilyn S MS Nelson Toben T Wall Melanie M Haddad Tarek T Kubik Martha M Laska Melissa Nelson MN Story Mary M

American journal of preventive medicine 20100101 1

<h4>Background</h4>With the epidemic of childhood obesity, there is national interest in state-level school policies related to nutrition and physical activity, policies adopted by states, and relationships to youth obesity.<h4>Purpose</h4>This study develops a comprehensive state-level approach to characterize the overall obesity prevention policy environment for schools and links the policy environments to youth obesity for each state.<h4>Methods</h4>Using 2006 School Health Policies and Progr ...[more]

PMID: 20117552

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that differences exist in physical activity (PA) participation among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) children and adolescents. It is possible that these differences could be influenced by variations in measurement technique and instrument reliability. However, culturally sensitive instruments for examining PA behaviour among CALD populations are lacking. This study tested the reliability of the Child and Adolescent Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (CAPANS-PA) recall questionnaire among a sample of Chinese-Australian youth. METHODS: The psychometric property of the CAPANS-PA questionnaire was examined among a sample of 77 Chinese-Australian youth (aged 11-14 y) who completed the questionnaire twice within 7 days. Test-retest reliability of individual items and scales within the CAPANS-PA questionnaire was determined using Kappa statistics for categorical variables and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for continuous variables. RESULTS: The CAPANS-PA questionnaire demonstrated acceptable test-retest reliability for frequency and duration of time spent in weekly Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) (ICC ? 0.70) for all participants. Test-retest reliability for time spent in weekly sedentary activities was acceptable for females (ICC = 0.82) and males (ICC = 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest the CAPANS-PA questionnaire provides reliable estimates for type, frequency and duration of MVPA participation among Chinese-Australian youth. Further investigation into the reliability of the sedentary items within the CAPANS-PA is required before these items can be used with confidence. This study is novel in that the reliability of instruments among CALD groups nationally and internationally remains sparse and this study contributes to the wider body of available psychometrically tested instruments. In addition, this study is the first to our knowledge to successfully engage and investigate the basic health enhancing behaviours of Chinese-Australian adolescents.

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Dataset Information

State school nutrition and physical activity policy environments and youth obesity.

Background

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

State school nutrition and physical activity policy environments and youth obesity.

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