An examination of a school-based nutrition program

Abstract

In response to concerns associated with childhood obesity, researchers have sought to develop nutrition and exercise programs to promote healthy living. One way to prevent obesity and improve the health of children is to provide healthy foods and nutrition education in elementary schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) nutrition program on elementary students (N = 271). Pretest and posttest data were analyzed using multivariate analyses of variance, independent samples t-tests, and paired samples t-tests. Students who participated in the nutrition program were appreciably different in their posttest scores from students in the control group (p < 0.05). Concerning matched groups, students in the intervention group improved on four out of five components (p < 0.05 to p < 0.001), whereas students in the control group had no statistically significant change (p>0.05). The answer to childhood health is multifaceted, but programs such as CATCH may offer a solution.

Keywords::

• school nutrition
• childhood obesity
• health education
• population at risk
• CATCH nutrition program

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by a grant from the Tulsa Health Department.

Notes

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^2. Email: [email protected]

^3. Email: [email protected]

^4. Email: [email protected]