As childhood obesity rates soar, initiatives in the classroom
aimed at teaching nutrition and physical activity, like the First
Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign, become more
prevalent. But are they working?
A new study of 26 school-based nutrition interventions in the
United States and found while many of these programs are on the
right track, there are some crucial pieces missing.
Investigators performed a content analysis of
Kindergarten-through-12th grade school-based nutrition
interventions which fit into the study's ten components proposed
for developing future effective school-based nutrition
interventions.
Findings from this study reveal that classroom nutrition education
(85%) followed by parental involvement at home (62%) were the two
intervention components used most often.
This study documents that although many components of nutrition education have been successfully included in our children's school-based interventions, there are still some missing links.
"Schools continue to be an important location for childhood obesity prevention interventions. However, it is imperative that school-based interventions be developed and implemented to achieve maximum results,” said lead author Dr. Mary Roseman, who conducted this work while at the University of Kentucky and The University of Mississippi.
Limited research
According to Roseman, a periodic review of research on
school-based nutrition interventions provides the opportunity to
examine previous research and identify successful strategies and
tactics for future studies that will lead to improved health
outcomes in children.
Currently, there is limited research about the effectiveness of
nutrition education interventions.
Roseman, along with co-authors Dr. Martha Riddell, Registered
Dietitian and Professor of Public Health at University of Kentucky,
and Jessica Niblock, Registered Dietitian with the Cincinnati Health Department feel this is an area of
research that has to be investigated to ensure children are
educated on how to be healthy, productive adults.
"With increased awareness, urgency, and funding to support
nutrition interventions and research focusing on reversing the
rising trend of overweight and obese children in the US,
synthesizing findings from previous studies to inform research and
program development, and identifying potentially high-impact
strategies and tactics are warranted,” write the
authors.
The researchers think the article emphasizes the importance of
providing funding support so more researchers can access the
effectiveness of nutrition education in the classroom, along with
other links like cafeterias, homes, and communities.
The study appears in the January/February 2011 issue of the
Journal of Nutrition Education.
