Search

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of the Bienestar/NEEMA Coordinated School Health Program (BN CSHP) on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) of preschool children. METHODS: A cluster randomized trial was conducted of preschools in South Texas. Of 48 eligible schools, 28 were randomly assigned (14 intervention, 14 control). Family demographics and household health characteristics were collected from parents and CRF from children. Generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: Family demographics, household health characteristics, and children's weight, obesity prevalence, and sedentary activity of the control group were similar to the intervention group at baseline. After adjusting for covariates, the number of laps ran by children in the control group increased by 23% (CI: -5% to 60%) per each data collection period compared with 53% (CI: 7% to 119%) in the intervention group. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY: State mandates, parent engagement, and funding are key for designing effective health and Physical Education (PE) programs. CONCLUSION: Children in the BN CSHP, compared to those in the control group, had a significantly higher increase in their CRF. This finding is important because of the health benefits of CRF in children.

The School Health Unit (UKS) program has been implemented since 1984. Although this program has been done yearly, the children's health status has not been optimized yet. Studies have been done to evaluate this program, however very limited studies have been done to explore the stakeholders of the program, their roles, and their conflicts, especially at the school level. This study aimed to stakeholder analysis of school health programs at school level. This was a qualitative case study of 4 elementary schools in North Jakarta. Data collection was carried out by means of in-depth interviews. Stakeholder analysis was performed by using steps which consist of identifying stakeholders, identifying interests, analyzing the influence of identified stakeholders and identifying risks, and anticipating risk management. Stakeholder mapping is done using the Grid mapping model. This study shows that in private primary schools, the most influential actors were foundations, namely as “context setters”. In public elementary schools, UKS teachers were the “subjects” and the education authorities were the powerful party in the development of infrastructure. This study also found that there was a conflict between the interests and influence of the main stakeholders, namely foundations and Education Authorities. Foundations and Education Authorities were not directly involved in implementing UKS in schools. This research concludes that the actors have not been maximal in carrying out their roles in the UKS policy at elementary schools in North Jakarta. Cooperation between actors needs to be improved.

School-age children experience sensory processing challenges, especially among children living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As the modern classroom strives to be an inclusive environment, more schools are adopting measures to provide sensory processing support. School nurses can be at the forefront to spearhead this initiative and are well-positioned to promote support and inclusivity for students through increased education for this population, including their peers. This article explores a collaboration between local school health services and a college of nursing to provide school-age children the opportunity to learn about the challenges faced by children living with sensory processing challenges.

Background: Improving the academic achievement of youth in the United States is an area of interest and a critical indicator of the future success of the youth. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a comprehensive school physical activity and healthy eating program on 5th-grade students' academic achievement, specifically reading and math. Methods: Overall, 628 (intervention: 377, 54% girls; comparison: 251, 49% girls) 5th-grade children participated across the 6 schools in a year-long comprehensive health intervention, completing curriculum-based academic achievement measures at 2 time-points. Results: Results showed that even after controlling for class clustering, age, sex, race, and T1 reading and math variables, students' T2 reading and math achievement were significantly higher in the intervention group than the comparison group. Conclusions: Comprehensive health programming can enhance the health and academic achievement of youth.

Introduction: Studying the process and impact of interventions like Health Promoting Schools (HPS) is important for sustenance and policy changes. This calls for gathering evidence on the current status of school health programs at a larger level so as to identify barriers and opportunities to strengthen their implementation. Methodology: Systematic research using selected databases led to identification of 18 eligible studies (from 1979 to 2019). Results: The studies were from India (n = 12), Indonesia (n = 3), Thailand (n = 2), and Nepal (n = 1). Collectively, studies have assessed health services under domains of health education (n = 2), health services (n = 3), nutrition services (n = 6), healthy school environment (n = 4), disease control and prevention (n = 6), school and community collaboration (n = 5), risk factor management (n = 6), life skills education, mental health and well-being (n = 7), and health promotion for school staff (n = 1). Health promotion services provided under similar domains were not similar kind in all studies. Five studies reported student, teacher, administration, and parental level facilitators and barriers to service provision under school health/health-promoting interventions/programs. Lack of time, overburdening, poor support by parents, unhealthy behavior in schools, etc., were some of the barriers. Cooperation by stakeholders and behavior reinforcement and parental trust in school activities reflected potential facilitators. Conclusion: Implementation of global standards of health-promoting schools (HPSs) is variable. Service provision is not essentially under the school health program and is mostly restricted to school children only. The study can serve as baseline for the implementation of standards in Southeast Asian Region countries. Countries should build on this information. Recommendations: Policies may be framed to include global standards of HPSs, understanding that little change can bring about a larger impact.

The aim of this article is to explore the role of local school champions in the facilitation and implementation of “The School Health Program”. This study is based on semi-structured interviews with 26 local school champions. The interviews focused on exploring key implementation responsibilities and barriers and facilitators to implement core program components. Champions identify coordination, promotion, and handling of support functions as key implementation tasks. The findings highlight organizational and structural factors that impact this type of implementation agent. Teachers functioning as champions can be central agents in the implementation of a whole-school program. Champions must, however, be supported by thorough organizational preparation, engaged leadership, and a well-defined distribution of roles.

Background: Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more apt to experience lower availability of nutritious foods, lack opportunities to exercise, and lack access to recreational facilities, and thus, are more likely to be obese and at greater risk for developing chronic diseases. We review school health education programs' impact on physical activity behaviors among disadvantaged students. Methods: The inclusion criteria of the study were articles: published in English with full text between 2011 and 2017; focused on school health education programs for disadvantaged school-aged students; assessed programs including a physical activity component; examined school-aged children and adolescents' physical activity behaviors; and assessed programs with comparison groups. Results: There were 13 studies matching inclusion criteria in this review. The results of this review indicated that school-based health education programs which included culturally appropriate physical activity, parent involvement, and enhanced student motivation and choice of activities appeared to increase physical activity levels among disadvantaged school-aged students. Health education programs should also emphasize behavioral change skills, such as goal setting and self-motivation, to positively impact on students' physical activity behaviors. Conclusions: School-based health education programs may help increase access to physical activity among disadvantaged populations.

Child health is a complex issue that requires a comprehensive approach to address the many factors that influence it and are influenced by it. In light of the complexity of children's health, the Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) was developed as a framework for a systems approach to planning and implementing school-based children's health programs. CSHP implementation focuses on building healthy school environments that foster healthy lifestyles. This paper describes the process of implementing CSHP in a rural, elementary school district in Southern Illinois. Each of the eight components of CSHP is identified, followed by a discussion of its application in the school district. A District Wellness Committee and School Health Teams were formed, teachers were provided new health education curriculum and received training in integrating the new curriculum into their practice, and a District Wellness Policy was developed and approved by the School Board. Numerous other initiatives were implemented and are described in the paper. Finally, a discussion of lessons learned in the process is offered to assist others who may wish to implement CSHP.

Background: Health educators have discussed the importance of the eight component Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP) approach to facilitate the success of school health education. Conducting a School Health Index (SHI) assessment of the CSHP is an important early step for improving the health, environment and academic success of youth. Purpose: To: (1) provide process evaluation data to improve a University-school partnership designed to assist in assessing the current state of the CSHP in 25 area schools and (2) to assess the level of institutionalization of the resulting SHI generated action plans. Methods: A 27-item questionnaire was used to conduct follow-up interviews with the project schools following the completion of the SHI assessment. Results: Data supported the continuation of the university-school partnership model for facilitating the SHI assessment. Only moderate institutionalization of SHI action plans for advancing the CSHP was shown, mostly related to policy and school environment changes. Discussion: Findings indicated the need for health coordinators taking a strong role in the assessment, for developing administrative support, for expanding parent and community involvement and for a formal process evaluation monitoring system to increase accountability. Translation to Health Education Practice: Additional recommendations for improving the partnership and the CSHP institutionalization following an SHI assessment are presented. (Contains 5 tables and 2 figures.)

The study aimed to analyze the implementation of the School Health Program, identifying the actions developed, as well as factors that influence professional practice in daily life and strategies adopted by health professionals in view of the limitations found. The exploratory-descriptive case study method was used, with a qualitative approach. The study was carried out with 20 health professionals, program directors, in a family clinic in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, containing specific questions and open questions that discussed the topic. Data were analyzed using the Bardin technique. The results were grouped into categories and found the predominance of actions focused on biological and hygienist determinants, confirming the distance from the expanded concept of health in health promotion practices. The problems encountered refer to the scarcity of material and human resources, lack of training and continuing education, lack of planning and organizational infrastructure, violence in the territory, in addition to the pandemic period experienced during the study. On the other hand, the consolidation of the relationship between health and school emerged, demonstrating the presence of intersectoral dialogue and the incorporation of health actions in the school routine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The study evaluates children in schools that participate in the School Health Program in the Northern region of Brazil with the objective of assessing whether their schools interfered in the development of overweight/obesity and how individual and school environment variables behave according to contextual analysis. Methods The analyses were carried out with 1036 children from 25 municipal public schools in Northern Brazil that participated in the School Health Program. We evaluated both individual characteristics and scholar environment through univariate and multivariate logistic regressions to identify which of these factors were related to overweight/obesity as well as the effect of varying such associations. Results The considered individuals had an median age of 8 years, being 54.9% female and 27.8% presenting overweight/obesity. In multivariate logistic regression, the overweight/obesity variance in schools was 0.386 (individual variables) and 0.102 (individual and school variables), explaining 23.7% of the variation, reduction of ICC and MOR. The Akaike Information Criterion between the models was reduced and the likelihood ratio indicated better adequacy of the latter model. The investigated children had a greater chance of developing overweight/obesity when they performed 2+ sedentary activities/day, depending on school location as well as whether or not candies were sold in the school surroundings. On the other hand, a lower chance of developing overweight/obesity was identified in children that ate 5+ meals/day and practiced dance at school. Conclusion We observed that the variables inherent to both individuals and schools favored the development of overweight/obesity in children. It is relevant that scholar curriculums incorporate healthy eating interventions and encourage body practices associated with policies that restrain the sale of ultra-processed food in schools as well as the development of intersectoral actions between education and health to control childhood obesity.

Copyright of Cadernos de Saude Publica is the property of Escola Nacional de Saude Publica Sergio Arouca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aiming to present the actions related to the Health on School Program (HSP) in the city of Chapecó (Brazil) between 2019 and 2021, this text highlights the integrated effort of the intersectoral working group, composed of representatives of the secretariats of primary education, health, and a university, to create a permanent agenda based on the promotion of belonging, dialogue and actions related to the HSP, respecting the main demands of the territories. Even with the limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, different strategies were implemented in the remote format, particularly mentioning the insertion of teachers and students from a medical course to prepare and offer actions in the city's schools. Based on these actions, the understanding of how fundamental the longitudinal and integrated work between representatives of different institutions in the education and health sectors, with support from the university, is for the HSP to be a priority in schools, with belonging and adequacy to the most specific demands of the collectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Interface - Comunicação, Saúde, Educação is the property of Fundacao UNI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Coordinated school health programs (CSHPs), a type of health promoting school (HPS) program adopted by Canada and the USA, were developed to provide a comprehensive approach to school health in the USA. Community partnerships are central to CSHP and HPS efforts, yet the quality of collaboration efforts is rarely assessed. The purpose of this paper is to use Himmelman's strategies for working together to assess the types of partnerships that are being formed by CSHPs and to explore the methodological usefulness of this framework. The Himmelman methodology describes four degrees of partnering interaction: networking, coordinating, cooperating, and collaborating, with each degree of interaction signifying a different level of partnership between organizations. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected as part of the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 CSHP annual Requests for Proposal from all 131 public school systems in Tennessee. Thematic analysis methods were used to assess partnerships in school systems. Descriptive analyses were completed to calculate individual collaboration scores for each of the eight CSHP components (comprehensive health education, physical education/activity, nutrition services, health services, mental health services, student, family, and community involvement, healthy school environment, and health promotion of staff) during the two data collection periods. The level of collaboration was assessed based on Himmelman's methodology, with higher scores indicating a greater degree of collaboration. Scores were averaged to obtain a mean score and individual component scores were then averaged to obtain statewide collaboration index scores (CISs) for each CSHP component. Findings: The majority of CSHPs partnering activities can be described as coordination, level two in partnering interaction. The physical activity component had the highest CISs and scored in between coordinating and cooperating (2.42), while healthy school environment had the lowest score, scoring between networking and coordinating (1.93), CISs increased from Year 1 to Year 2 for all of the CSHP components. Applying the theoretical framework of Himmelman's methodology provided a novel way to quantify levels of collaboration among school partners. This approach offered an opportunity to use qualitative and quantitative methods to explore levels of collaboration, determine current levels of collaboration, and assess changes in levels of collaboration over the study period. Research limitations/implications: This study provides a framework for using the Himmelman methodology to quantify partnerships in a HPS program in the USA. However, the case study nature of the enquiry means that changes may have been influenced by a range of contextual factors, and quantitative analyses are solely descriptive and therefore do not provide an opportunity for statistical comparisons. Practical implications: Quantifying collaboration efforts is useful for HPS programs. Community activities that link back to the classroom are important to the success of any HPS program. Himmelman's methodology may be useful when applied to HPSs to assess the quality of existing partnerships and guide program implementation efforts. Originality/value: This research is the first of its kind and uses a theoretical framework to quantify partnership levels in school health programs. In the future, using this methodology could provide an opportunity to develop more effective partnerships in school health programs, health education, and public health.

Copyright of Revista de Salud Pública is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

ABSTRACT Objectives: to compare health promotion actions carried out by Family Health teams in Ceará, linked to the School Health Program. Methods: a cross-sectional study involving the first and second cycles of an external assessment of 910 and 1,626 teams from 184 municipalities, which joined the Brazilian National Program for Improvement of Access and Quality of Primary Care. Eight clinical assessment and seven health promotion indicators were assessed, together with health professionals working in schools. Results: the interviewees were nurses (95.6% and 98.3%). Between the cycles, there was an increase in clinical assessment (78.7% and 91.3%), health promotion and disease prevention (82.5% and 89.3%) and survey of students for follow-up (41.4% and 66.4%) in schools. Conclusions: health actions at school advanced between cycles, with nurses as protagonists in school health, which can reduce vulnerabilities in children and adolescents and qualify Primary Care.

ABSTRACT Purpose: to survey the prevalence of risk factors for communication disorders and complaints in preschoolers that participated in the School Health Program (SHP) and compare the findings with age and sex. Methods: the sample comprised 190 preschoolers reached by the SHP. The collection procedure involved the exploration of data in questionnaires previously filled out by their relatives. The risk factors and communication complaints were presented in the occurrence frequency. The evidence of associations between variables was verified with the Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests, and the 5% significance level was used for all comparisons. Results: baby bottle use was the most prevalent risk factor associated with age, being more frequent in younger children. The girls underwent more complications during pregnancy or birth and showed more nonnutritive sucking habits, whereas the boys had more hospital stays. Conclusion: regarding the investigated risk factors, the baby bottle use was the most reported one, followed by ear infections or other ear problems. Complaints related to speaking and hearing were seldom mentioned, although those related to speaking occurred more frequently.

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of the Brazilian School Health Program (SHP) on dental clinical disorders such as caries, gingivitis, and dental trauma as well as on the oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of adolescents in Nova Friburgo, RJ, Brazil. The study consisted of a non-probabilistic (convenience) sample comprising 319 12-year-old adolescents, both participants and non-participants of the SHP, for at least two years. Socio-demographic and OHRQoL questionnaires (CPQ11-14, the Child Perceptions Questionnaire) were applied as well as clinical examinations for caries, periodontal disease, and dental trauma following the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria by calibrated researchers. Mann-Whitney, chi-square tests, and multiple logistic regression models were used for the data analysis. Statistically significant differences were observed between the groups covered and not covered by the SHP for gingivitis (p = 0.0373) and OHRQoL on the social welfare subscale (p = 0.0265) and total scale (p = 0.0449) of CPQ11-14. Multivariate analysis showed that female adolescents were 1.74 times more likely to present a lower OHRQoL (OR = 1.74, 95%IC = 1.10–2.77, p = 0.0183) than males. In addition, non-SHP subjects were 1.56 times more likely to have poor OHRQoL (OR = 1.56, 95%IC = 0.94–2.59, p = 0.0873) than program participants. In conclusion, SHP positively influenced the OHRQoL of adolescents. However, follow-up studies are needed to verify the continued effectiveness of this Brazilian SHP in improving the oral health levels and quality of life of adolescents.

Copyright of Revista de Atencao Primaria a Saude is the property of Revista de Atencao Primaria a Saude and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)