Effect of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program, a Multicomponent, School-Based Nutrition Intervention, on Physical Activity Intensity

ABSTRACT

Objective: Physical activity has been shown to have a wide range of beneficial health effects, yet few youth meet the United States physical activity recommendation of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) everyday. The objective of this study was to determine whether physical activity patterns improved in a subsample of fourth-graders participating in the multicomponent intervention, the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP).

Methods: At pre- and post-intervention assessments, youth at the control and intervention schools wore a Polar Active monitor on their nondominant wrist 24 h/d for at least 2 consecutive days. Multiple linear regression was used to evaluate change in physical activity by adjusting for covariates and other potential confounders, including ethnicity/race, household income, and sex. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: Mean minutes of MVPA significantly increased at the intervention school (22.3 + 37.8; p = 0.01) and at the control school (29.1 + 49.5; p = 0.01). There were no significant differences in the change in MVPA between the schools. Youth at the intervention school significantly decreased mean minutes in sedentary activity compared to the controls (p = 0.02).

Conclusions: Youth who participated in the SHCP decreased time spent in sedentary activity and increased very vigorous physical activity from pre- to post-intervention, while these changes were not observed at the control school. The overall small physical activity intensity pattern shift supports that physical activity is an important area to target within a multicomponent nutrition intervention aimed at preventing childhood obesity.

KEYWORDS:

• Nutrition education
• physical activity
• children
• accelerometer
• shaping healthy choices program

Acknowledgments

The authors thank all of the students, parents, and teachers participating in the study and the school and district administration for their assistance. In addition, they acknowledge Dr. Anna Jones for assisting with the paper and the many undergraduate student interns who assisted with the study implementation and data entry.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the USDA Training Grant (2011-38420-20082), University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Competitive Grant (11-1018), USDA NIFA Hatch Project (221082).