Gender Differences in the Class of 1989 Study: The School Component of the Minnesota Heart Health Program

Abstract

The Class of 1989 Study is part of the Minnesota Heart Health Program (MHHP). Beginning in sixth grade (1983), seven annual waves of measurements were taken from students in one of the MHHP intervention communities and its matched pair (baseline n = 2,376). Self-reported data were collected at each time period describing a variety of health-related behaviors, including smoking, physical activity, and food preferences.

With regard to the intervention hypotheses, significant positive differences between genders were observed on the physical activity and food preference variables. Significant gender by treatment interactions were observed on five of six follow-up periods for food preferences. The effects of the intervention on smoking by gender were less apparent. The results from the tracking analysis indicate there is evidence of early consolidation and tracking of physical activity, food preference, and smoking behaviors, but these results did not differ greatly by gender.

These data suggest that girls may be more receptive than boys to social influences models of health education. A plausible interpretation could mean that women, as young as sixth grade, are socialized to engage in preventive health education.