School-Based Obesity-Prevention Policies and Practices and Weight-Control Behaviors among Adolescents.

Publisher: Elsevier Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101573920 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2212-2672 (Print) Linking ISSN: 22122672 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Acad Nutr Diet Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: New York : Elsevier

Body Weight* ; Body Weight Maintenance* ; Health Policy* ; Health Promotion*; Pediatric Obesity/*prevention & control; Adolescent ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Exercise ; Feeding Behavior ; Feeding and Eating Disorders ; Female ; Health Behavior ; Health Education ; Humans ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Minnesota ; School Health Services ; Schools ; Students

Background: The promotion of healthy eating and physical activity within school settings is an important component of population-based strategies to prevent obesity; however, adolescents may be vulnerable to weight-related messages, as rapid development during this life stage often leads to preoccupation with body size and shape.
Objective: This study examines secular trends in secondary school curricula topics relevant to the prevention of unhealthy weight-control behaviors; describes cross-sectional associations between weight-related curricula content and students' use of weight-control behaviors; and assesses whether implementation of school-based obesity-prevention policies/practices is longitudinally related to students' weight-control behaviors.
Design: The Minnesota School Health Profiles and Minnesota Student Survey (grades 9 and 12) data were used along with National Center for Education Statistics data to examine secular trends, cross-sectional associations (n=141 schools), and longitudinal associations (n=42 schools).
Main Outcome Measures: Students self-reported their height and weight along with past-year use of healthy (eg, exercise), unhealthy (eg, fasting), and extreme (eg, use laxatives) weight-control behaviors.
Statistical Analyses Performed: Descriptive statistics, generalized estimating equations, and generalized linear regression models accounting for school-level demographics.
Results: There was no observable pattern during the years 2008 to 2014 in the mean number of curricula topics addressing unhealthy weight-control behaviors, despite an increase in the prevalence of curricula addressing acceptance of body-size differences. Including three vs fewer weight-control topics and specifically including the topic of eating disorders in the curricula was related to a lower school-level percent of students using any extreme weight-control behaviors. In contrast, an overall measure of implementing school-based obesity-prevention policies/practices (eg, prohibited advertising) was unrelated to use of unhealthy or extreme behaviors.
Conclusions: Results suggest obesity-prevention policies/practices do not have unintended consequences for student weight-control behaviors and support the importance of school-based health education as part of efforts to prevent unhealthy behaviors.
Competing Interests: DISCLOSURE The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
(Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

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R01 HD070738 United States HD NICHD NIH HHS; UL1 TR000114 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS

Keywords: Adolescent; Health education; Obesity prevention; School environment; Weight-control behavior

Date Created: 20161128 Date Completed: 20170629 Latest Revision: 20190109

20240829

PMC5276726

10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.030

27889315