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Background: Coordinated, multi-component school-based interventions can improve health behaviors in children, as well as parents, and impact the weight status of students. By leveraging a unique collaboration between Texas AgriLife Extension (a federal, state and county funded educational outreach organization) and the University of Texas School of Public Health, the Texas Grow! Eat! Go! Study (TGEG) modeled the effectiveness of utilizing existing programs and volunteer infrastructure to disseminate an enhanced Coordinated School Health program. The five-year TGEG study was developed to assess the independent and combined impact of gardening, nutrition and physical activity intervention(s) on the prevalence of healthy eating, physical activity and weight status among low-income elementary students. The purpose of this paper is to report on study design, baseline characteristics, intervention approaches, data collection and baseline data.Methods: The study design for the TGEG study consisted of a factorial group randomized controlled trial (RCT) in which 28 schools were randomly assigned to one of 4 treatment groups: (1) Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) only (Comparison), (2) CATCH plus school garden intervention [Learn, Grow, Eat & Go! (LGEG)], (3) CATCH plus physical activity intervention [Walk Across Texas (WAT)], and (4) CATCH plus LGEG plus WAT (Combined). The outcome variables include student's weight status, vegetable and sugar sweetened beverage consumption, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. Parents were assessed for home environmental variables including availability of certain foods, social support of student health behaviors, parent engagement and behavior modeling.Results: Descriptive data are presented for students (n = 1369) and parents (n = 1206) at baseline. The sample consisted primarily of Hispanic and African American (53 % and 18 %, respectively) and low-income (i.e., 78 % eligible for Free and Reduced Price School Meals program and 43 % food insecure) students. On average, students did not meet national guidelines for vegetable consumption or physical activity. At baseline, no statistical differences for demographic or key outcome variables among the 4 treatment groups were observed.Conclusions: The TGEG study targets a population of students and parents at high risk of obesity and related chronic conditions, utilizing a novel and collaborative approach to program formulation and delivery, and a rigorous, randomized study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Latinx children in the United States are at high risk for nature-deficit disorder, heat-related illness, and physical inactivity. We developed the Green Schoolyards Project to investigate how green features-trees, gardens, and nature trails-in school parks impact heat index (i.e., air temperature and relative humidity) within parks, and physical activity levels and socioemotional well-being of these children. Herein, we present novel methods for a) observing children's interaction with green features and b) measuring heat index and children's behaviors in a natural setting, and a selection of baseline results.Methods: During two September weeks (high temperature) and one November week (moderate temperature) in 2019, we examined three joint-use elementary school parks in Central Texas, United States, serving predominantly low-income Latinx families. To develop thermal profiles for each park, we installed 10 air temperature/relative humidity sensors per park, selecting sites based on land cover, land use, and even spatial coverage. We measured green features within a geographic information system. In a cross-sectional study, we used an adapted version of System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC) to assess children's physical activity levels and interactions with green features. In a cohort study, we equipped 30 3rd and 30 4th grade students per school during recess with accelerometers and Global Positioning System devices, and surveyed these students regarding their connection to nature. Baseline analyses included inverse distance weighting for thermal profiles and summing observed counts of children interacting with trees.Results: In September 2019, average daily heat index ranged 2.0 °F among park sites, and maximum daily heat index ranged from 103.4 °F (air temperature = 33.8 °C; relative humidity = 55.2%) under tree canopy to 114.1 °F (air temperature = 37.9 °C; relative humidity = 45.2%) on an unshaded playground. 10.8% more girls and 25.4% more boys interacted with trees in September than in November.Conclusions: We found extreme heat conditions at select sites within parks, and children positioning themselves under trees during periods of high heat index. These methods can be used by public health researchers and practitioners to inform the redesign of greenspaces in the face of climate change and health inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous, nature of the occupation exposes officers to both acute and chronic stress over law enforcement officers' (LEO)  tenure. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) Describe multi-level characteristics that define high-stress calls for service for LEO; and 2) Characterize factors that impact cumulative stress over the course of a LEO's shift.Methods: Qualitative data were collected from 28 LEOs at three law enforcement agencies in the Dallas-Fort Worth areas from April 2019 to February 2020. Focus group data were iteratively coded by four coders using inductive and deductive thematic identification.Results: Five multi-level factors influenced officer stress: 1) officer characteristics (e.g. military experience; gender); 2) civilian behavior (e.g. resistance, displaying a weapon); 3) supervisor factors (micromanagement); 4) environmental factors (e.g. time of year); and, 5) situational factors (e.g. audience present; complexity of calls). Four themes that characterized cumulative stress: 1) cyclical risk; 2) accelerators; 3) decelerators; and 4) experience of an adverse event.Conclusions: LEOs become susceptible to adverse events (e.g. injury, excessive use of force) after repeated exposure to high-stress calls for service. Ongoing exposures to stress continue to occur throughout the shift. Our long-term goal is to interrupt this repetitive, cumulative process by restricting the number of consecutive high-risk, high-intensity calls an officer is permitted to respond to. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite evidence for the use of community-wide campaigns to promote physical activity, few evaluations of community-wide campaigns in Hispanic communities exist. This study assessed the associations of exposure to a community-wide campaign with physical activity and sedentary behavior among Hispanic adults living on the Texas-Mexico border.Methods: The intervention, Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! (Your Health Matters!; TSSC), included a newsletter, community health worker discussion, TV and radio segments, which were conducted from 2005 to 2010. We matched an intervention (N = 399) and a control community (N = 400) on demographics and used a cross-sectional assessment in 2010 with randomly sampled adults from both communities. We collected exposure to the campaign, as well as physical activity and sedentary behavior with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. We conducted bivariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models to assess the association of TSSC exposure and its components with meeting moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) guidelines and exhibiting excessive sedentary behavior, controlling for covariates.Results: As compared to the control community, the intervention community has 3 times the odds of meeting MVPA guidelines (Adjusted OR [AOR] = 3.01, 95% CI = 1.85-4.88, p < .05) and 2 times lower odds of excessive sedentary behavior ((AOR = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.30-0.70, p < .05). Exposure in the intervention group to any component was associated with five times the odds of meeting MVPA guidelines (AOR = 5.10, 95% CI 2.88-9.03, p < .001) and 3 times lower odds of excessive sedentary behavior (AOR = 0.32, 95% CI 0.17-0.60, p < .001), compared with those unexposed in the control community. Exposure to newsletters, CHW discussions and TV segments were associated with significantly lower odds of excessive sedentary behavior and higher odds of meeting MVPA guidelines. Exposure to radio segments was only associated with a significantly higher odds of meeting MVPA guidelines (AOR = 4.21, 95% CI = 1.17-15.09).Conclusions: This study provides some evidence of the association of community-wide campaigns and its components in Hispanic communities with higher levels of MVPA and lower levels of excessive sedentary behavior.Trial Registration Number: NCT00788879 Date: November 11, 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a previously conducted Health Impact Assessment of a well-water dependent southwest community, arsenic (As) levels greater than the EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (10 μg/L) were identified in home water samples. The goals of this study were to test whether children from the previously studied well-water dependent community (Community 1) had higher blood As levels than children from a demographically similar and geographically nearby community dependent on a municipal water supply (Community 2); to test whether home water As levels predicted child As blood levels; and to examine how child As blood levels changed over time.Methods: This was an observational study of 252 children aged 4 to 12 years from two communities. Children were recruited through elementary schools and tested during the school day; 204 children participated in follow-up testing. Home water samples were collected according to U.S. Environmental Protection agency recommended procedures. Child heavy metal blood levels and home water sample heavy metal levels were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. General linear regression analysis was used to test the influence of community on child As levels, and to examine the contribution of home water As levels to child blood As levels.Results: Arsenic was detectable in all children tested. Blood levels ranged from 0.09-2.61 μg/dL; approximately 31% of children tested at Time I (79/252) had blood As values above the current acceptable limit (1.2 μg/dL). Approximately 8% of household water samples (6/76) had As levels higher than 10 μg/L. Community did not predict child blood As levels; seasonal effects differed by Community. At Time II, child blood As levels were higher in Community 2 than in Community 1.Conclusion: A large proportion of children in the communities tested had As exposure. Home water As levels did not predict child blood As levels. Fluctuating child blood As levels by season and over time suggested the contribution of multiple factors and the need for further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]