Parents and Teachers as Role Models for Healthy Behaviors in Preschoolers.

EDUCATION of parents; TEACHER education; HEALTH behavior in children; ROLE models; CHILDHOOD obesity; PHYSICAL activity; DESCRIPTIVE statistics

NEW Jersey; UNITED States

One-third of American children are obese (13.7 million children). Although there are programs and strategies to address this issue, there is limited evidence regarding the role teachers and parents play as role models for healthy behaviors among preschool- aged children. This interventional study examined the impact educating parents and teachers as role models had on preschool-aged children's healthy behaviors (eating and physical activity). Parents and teachers in a public preschool in Newark, New Jersey, were invited to attend. Thirty-seven parents, teachers, and teacher aides representing 37 unduplicated children ages 3 to 5 years participated in the study. More than three-quarters of participants (83.8%, n = 31) were parents, and the remainder were teachers or teacher aides (16.2%, n = 6). The program was structured as a weekly 45-minute session over four weeks. Statistically significant results indicated that children's fruit and vegetable consumption increased by three servings from an average of one to five servings a day. Furthermore, the number of days children shared dinner and breakfast with the family increased from an average of two to five days a week, and children reduced eating takeout food by an average two days a week. There was also a 2-hour decline in the time children spent watching TV or playing video games, from slightly above 3.5 hours on average to 1.5 hours after the intervention. This family-centered/school-focused obesity intervention produced significant improvements in healthy behaviors for both adults and children. Educating parents and teachers to serve as role models for preschool children may contribute to decreasing the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]