Abstract
Purpose.
Examine the reach, efficacy, adoption, implementation, and maintenance of a physical activity and nutrition curriculum for middle-school students.
Design.
Nonexperimental pilot evaluation of a statewide dissemination trial.
Setting.
California middle schools during the 2006 to 2007 school year.
Subjects.
Sixteen classes (N = 668 students and 16 teachers) sampled from the statewide pool who used the program.
Intervention.
An eight-lesson nutrition and physical activity curriculum, “Exercise Your Options” (EYO), including a teacher guide, video clips, a student activity booklet, and ancillary materials was made available to teachers.
Measures.
Program records, classroom observations, teacher surveys, and student presurveys and postsurveys (assessing physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and dietary intake).
Analysis.
Descriptive statistics and multilevel random-coefficient modeling.
Results.
The EYO program reached 234, 442 middle-school students in California. During the program, total physical activity increased (p ≤ .001), whereas watching TV/DVDs and playing electronic games/computer use decreased (p ≤ .05). Intake of dairy products increased (p < .05), whereas consumption of sugars/sweets decreased (p < .001). Forty-two percent of eligible middle-school classrooms ordered the program materials. Eighty-six percent of sampled teachers implemented all of the lessons. Over the past 5 years, 51% of all middle-school students in California were exposed to the program.
Conclusions.
The EYO program showed its potential for moderate to high public health impact among California middle-school students.
Keywords
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