Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116331

Heather Hartline-Grafton, MPH, RD¹, Donald Diego Rose, PhD, MPH¹, Carolyn C. Johnson, PhD¹, Janet Rice, PhD², Ariane Bedimo-Rung, PhD, MPH³, and Larry S. Webber, PhD². (1) Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal Street, Suite 2301, New Orleans, LA 70112, (504) 988-5391, hhartlin@tulane.edu, (2) Department of Biostatistics, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 1440 Canal Street, 20th Floor, New Orleans, LA 70112, (3) Department of Epidemiolgoy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Public Health, 1600 Canal Street, Suite 800, New Orleans, LA 70112

According to recent estimates, approximately two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese. At the same time, 63.9% of working-age adults are employed, making worksites a prime target for prevention efforts to control overweight and obesity, especially when considering the lost productivity and increased medical care costs associated with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and the many other chronic conditions related to overweight and obesity. Although worksite models hold promise for health promotion efforts, limited evidence-based research exists on their effectiveness. To close this gap, a worksite wellness program (ACTION!) is being developed, implemented, and evaluated for elementary school personnel with the goal to reduce overweight and obesity through promotion of healthful eating and physical activity. Twenty schools in the Greater New Orleans Area will serve as worksites in this 4-year, NIH funded group-randomized trial. Individual- and environmental-level approaches will be implemented in intervention schools based on the social ecological framework and include modifications of existing environments, policy initiatives, promotional campaigns, and provision of on-site nutrition and physical activity program activities. Another important component of the intervention is formation of a school wellness committee at each school with representation from administrators, faculty, food service personnel, and support staff. The committee will be instrumental in identifying and implementing intervention components. This presentation will focus on the rationale for using schools as worksites, an overview of the study design, and a description of the specific nutrition and physical activity strategies and activities developed for use with intervention school personnel.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

(
• List three reasons why schools are an appropriate worksite for health promotion efforts; (
• Articulate the overall study design for ACTION implementation and evaluation; (
• Describe three nutrition and physical activity strategies and activities being offered to ACTION intervention schools.

Keywords: Nutrition, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.