| Session Title: National Evaluations of School Wellness Policy and Programs |
| Multipaper Session 623 to be held in Room 102 in the Convention Center on Friday, Nov 7, 1:35 PM to 3:05 PM |
| Sponsored by the Health Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Laura Leviton, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, llevito@rwjf.org |
| Discussant(s): |
| Laura Leviton, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, llevito@rwjf.org |
| Abstract: Childhood obesity has increased rapidly in the past decade and now constitutes a serious epidemic in the US. Both government and the nonprofit sector have developed concerted efforts to address this problem. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has funded evaluations of these efforts. This session will describe three evaluations: the USDA's school wellness policy requirements; the efforts of the Clinton Foundation/American Heart Association to improve the school environment, and Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003, an ambitious and comprehensive effort to prevent childhood obesity through the schools. Discussion will focus on comparing evaluations for government versus nonprofit efforts through the schools. |
| Evaluating School District Wellness Policies: Methodological Challenges and Results |
| Jamie Chriqui, University of Illinois Chicago, jchriqui@uic.edu |
| Frank J Chaloupka, University of Illinois Chicago, fjc@uic.edu |
| Anna Sandoval, University of Illinois Chicago, asando1@uic.edu |
| In response to growing concerns about childhood overweight and obesity, Congress passed a law (P.L. 108-265) in 2004 requiring local education agencies participating in the National School Lunch Program to adopt and implement a wellness policy by no later than the first school day following June 30, 2006. The federal mandate included goals related to: (1) nutrition education, (2) physical activity, (3) reimbursable school meals, (4) nutrition guidelines for all competitive foods sold/served, and (5) implementation and evaluation. This presentation will review methodological challenges associated with collecting and evaluating a nationally representative sample (n=579) of wellness policies. Policies have been obtained via Web research with telephone follow-up from 504 districts (87%) and confirmed to not exist in 29 districts (5%). District-level factors (e.g., SES, race/ethnicity) associated with response status and response method (Web vs. telephone) will be described. Strategies for evaluating the variability in wellness policy content will be presented. |
| Assessing the Impact of the Healthy Schools Program: Preliminary Findings |
| Dennis Deck, RMC Research Corporation, ddeck@rmccorp.com |
| Audrey Block, RMC Research Corporation, ablock@rmccorp.com |
| The Healthy Schools Program is run by the Clinton Foundation and American Heart Association and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It helps schools improve access to healthier foods and increase physical activity opportunities. Schools receive onsite technical assistance and can access an online tool that helps them identify their status as a healthy school and develop a customized action plan. The goal of the evaluation, being conducted by RMC Research Corporation, is to help the Alliance and its partners understand how to better support schools with the implementation and maintenance of the intended policy and program changes and how changes might affect behaviors related to childhood obesity. This presentation will review baseline data that characterize the current state of schools' policies and action plans concerning nutrition and physical activity; students' current nutrition and physical activity behaviors; and students' Body Mass Indices. |
| The Impact of Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003: Findings to Date From a Comprehensive Evaluation |
| Martha Phillips, University of Arkansas, martha.phillips@arkansas.gov |
| James Raczynski, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, jmr@uams.edu |
| Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003 was among the first and most comprehensive legislative initiatives designed to address the growing rate of childhood obesity in the state. The Act included limited mandates but established mechanisms at the state and local levels to promote, if not ensure, changes in school environments to support healthy nutrition and physical activity choices by students. A comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the Act, grounded in behavior change theory and overseen by a multi-disciplinary research team, is being completed with funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation This presentation will provide a brief history of the Act, an overview of the evaluation and its conceptual framework, and a review of findings to date, including a discussion of school environmental and policy changes, changes in family and adolescent behaviors, and findings from the monitoring of potential unintended consequences (e.g., unhealthy diet behaviors, weight-based teasing). |
| Evaluation Challenges in Working with Foundation-Sponsored Grant Programs Versus Federally-Sponsored Grant Programs |
| Audrey Block, RMC Research Corporation, ablock@rmccorp.com |
| Dennis Deck, RMC Research Corporation, ddeck@rmccorp.com |
| RMC Research Corporation is the evaluator for the Healthy Schools Program, a school-based obesity prevention program that helps schools improve access to healthier foods and increase physical activity opportunities for students and staff. Schools may receive onsite technical assistance from a relationship manager and access the Healthy School Builder, an online tool that helps them identify their status as a healthy school and develop a customized action plan. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the primary sponsor of the program and the evaluation. This presentation will discuss the evaluation challenges in working with schools to collect data without the normal compliance or accountability criteria that are present in federally-sponsored grant programs. These include lack of meaningful funding available to schools, low program buy-in (possibly related to lack of funding), confusion between the Healthy Schools program and similar and competing initiatives, and lack of understanding about what program participation entails. |