141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

281433
Obesity prevention strategies inside and outside school based health center clinic walls

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Diana Vinh, RN, Advanced Practice Nurse Specialist , Community Health Services Division, Seattle & King County Public Health, Seattle, WA
Introduction- Because they have a foot in both health and academic worlds school based health centers (SBHCs), are uniquely positioned to promote both individual and systemic change that help prevent obesity. Approach- Inside the clinic walls strategies such as 7-5-2-1-0 messaging, (eat breakfast 7 days a week, 5 servings or more of produce per day, 2 hours or less of screen time per day, one hour or more of physical activity per day and zero sugar sweetened beverages), are used to provide students a menu of healthy choices. Providers then use motivational interviewing to promote the option chosen. This year text messaging will be used as well as clinic visits to reinforce messaging. Outside the clinic walls strategies such as setting up afterschool cooking and gardening programs, walking groups, promoting healthy foods at student stores and working with school nutrition services and coaches are effective strategies for promoting healthy eating and active living. Results- Initial results at 16 school based health center sites in Seattle Public Schools indicate that 7-5-2-1-0 is an effective framework for health promoting messaging and that SBHC staff are effective ambassadors for promoting healthy school environments. Discussion- With focused and coordinated effort students and schools can be encouraged to engage in health promoting behaviors by SBHC staff.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Define what 7-5-2-1-0 means and how to use this messaging to motivate students towards positive behavior change. Evaluate what types of strategies will work best for their school based health center and school.

Keywords: Obesity, School-Based Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: For the past nine years I have been working in the community promoting healthy eating and active living programs. For the past two years part of my time has been spent using this knowledge to promote obesity prevention with school based health centers.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4376.0: Obesity Prevention Programs