Search

Objective:To examine the long-term effects of the ‘Cretan Health and Nutrition Education Program’ on blood pressure.Subjects:A representative population of 176 pupils (85 from the intervention schools and 91 from the control schools).Design:Blood pressure, dietary, anthropometrical and physical activity data were obtained at baseline (academic year 1992–1993) and at follow-up examination (academic year 2001–2002).Results:The findings of the current study revealed that the increase over the 10-year period in systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was higher in the control group (CG) than in the intervention group (IG) (P=0.003 and P<0.001 respectively). Regarding dietary indices, the IG were found to have a significantly higher intake of potassium (P=0.018) and magnesium (P=0.011) compared to the CG. Furthermore, the decrease in body mass index (BMI) z-score observed in the IG was found to differentiate significantly from the increase observed in the CG (P=0.042). On the contrary, the increase in leisure time, moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA) observed in the IG, was found to differentiate significantly from the decrease observed in the CG (P=0.032). Intervention's effect on SBP was mediated by changes in MVPA (β=−0.20, P=0.030) and BMI (β=0.19, P=0.048). Similarly, intervention's effect on DBP was mediated by changes in MVPA (β=−0.18, P=0.048), BMI (β=0.26, P=0.007) and magnesium intake (β=−0.20, P=0.048).Conclusion:The findings of the current study are encouraging, indicating favorable changes in blood pressure, micronutrients intake, BMI and physical activity over the 10 years of follow-up and 4 years after program's cessation, thus providing some support for the effectiveness of school-based health education programs in successfully tackling certain chronic disease risk factors early in life.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 837–845; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602584; published online 10 January 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examines the long-term effects of a school-based ‘Health and Nutrition Education programme’ on body mass index (BMI) changes and the prevalence of overweight. The intervention group consisted of all pupils registered in the first grade of two counties of the island of Crete in 1992, while all pupils registered in a third county formed the control group. For evaluation purposes, a representative sample was examined at baseline (1992) following the 6-y intervention (1998) and 4 y after the programme's cessation (2002). The data presented here are based on pupils with full anthropometrical data in all three examination periods (284 intervention group pupils and 257 control group pupils). Former intervention group pupils had lower average BMI (by 0.7 kg/m2, s.e. 0.28, P=0.019) at the 10-y follow-up compared to the control group subjects, while no differences were detected in the prevalence of obesity between the two groups. The findings of the current study indicate that the beneficial effects of the programme on pupils’ BMI continue, to an extent, 4 years after its cessation. However, the lack of significant differences in the prevalence of overweight between the two groups indicates that the effects of the intervention may not be equally distributed in the population, with greater effects in certain subgroups and less or none in others.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2005) 59, 1090–1092. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602216; published online 6 July 2005 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]