142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Setting the Context for Obesity Prevention in Rural Schools: GROW Healthy Kids & Communities

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Katherine Gunter, PhD , School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Patrick Abi Nader, M.S. , School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Brendan Klein, MPH , Extension Family and Community Health Program, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
John Hicks, B.S. , Extension Family and Community Health Program, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Deborah H. John, PhD , School of Biological and Population Health Sciences, Public Health Faculty-Extension Family and Community Health, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Introduction:  The causes of overweight and obesity are multifactorial and include rural residency.  For children, the critical importance of the school setting for obesity prevention is well accepted.  However, most of the recommended environmental and policy strategies are not applicable to rural school settings.  Our purpose was to evaluate physical activity (PA) behavior and BMI among elementary school children in rural Oregon, to provide a context for evaluating the effectiveness of school-based intervention activities associated with a multi-level child obesity prevention project.

Approach: We measured height, weight, and PA on 453 boys and 415 girls (grades 1-6), enrolled in four rural elementary schools. Height, weight and PA accrued during the school day was measured during the same week over four days using Walk4Life pedometers. Four-day averages were calculated for daily wear time, steps, total activity time, and moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA; step count > 120/min). BMI percentiles and z-scores were calculated and regression models were run to examine the relationships between PA variables and BMI z-scores, adjusting for wear time, gender, and grade.

Results: More MVPA was associated with lower BMI (p<0.001); this was consistent across grade and gender. Boys accrued more total PA and MVPA than girls (p<0.001). Children in grade 1 accrued more total PA (vs. grades 3-6; p<0.05) and MVPA (vs. grades 4-6; p<0.01) and had lower obesity rates (vs. grades 4,5,6; p<0.05).

Conclusion: Efforts to promote PA as a strategy for obesity prevention in rural elementary school settings should focus on increasing opportunities for MVPA.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe the context for obesity prevention in rural elementary school settings. Describe suggested strategies for physical activity promotion for obesity prevention in rural elementary school settings.

Keyword(s): Rural Health, School-Based Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I serve as Project Director of a 5-year, United States Department of Agriculture-funded study (with Dr. Deborah John) examining the role of rural home, school and community settings in promoting childhood obesity. I have a demonstrated record of productive research related to the promotion of physical activity for the prevention and management of chronic disease.
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: 3311.0: School Environments and Community Engagement