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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Joseph W. Thompson, MD, MPH, Paula Card-Higginson, BA, ELS, and Jennifer L. Shaw, MAP, MPH. Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, 1401 West Capitol Avenue, Suite 300, Victory Building, Little Rock, AR 72201, 501-526-2264, ShawJenniferL@uams.edu

Background: Arkansas Act 1220 created broad-based initiatives targeting the public school environment with a goal of combating childhood obesity. One requirement of the Act is annual body mass index (BMI) assessments of all public school students (annual enrollment≈450,000) with results reported confidentially to parents. Objective: Compare aggregate and individual longitudinally matched BMI results for three years to inform state and local policy makers about obesity among Arkansas's children. Methods: Demographic, height, and weight data collection and reporting for individual public school students (K-12) is completed for school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 and is underway for 2005-2006 with preliminary data available for various-sized schools across Arkansas. Results: Data forms were submitted for 94% (423,263) and 97% (440,572) of students in 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, respectively. Based on assessments with a valid BMI-for-age calculation, in 2003-2004 (n=347,250) and in 2004-2005 (n=367,879), 21% of Arkansas school students were overweight, 17% were at risk for overweight, 60% were normal weight, and 2% were underweight. Preliminary data for 2005-2006 (N=24,831) indicates that the distribution remains similar: 19% overweight, 17% at risk for overweight, 62% normal weight, and 2% underweight. Conclusion: BMI assessments in Arkansas have played a key role in enhancing healthy school nutrition and physical activity environments. Final analyses using aggregate and matched data over three years (2005-2006 final results expected in July 2006) will provide details about whether Arkansas has been able to slow the progression of the obesity epidemic among public school students.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participants will be able to

• identify the longitudinal trends in childhood and adolescent obesity in Arkansas
• discuss how Arkansas’s results from a statewide population-based assessment compare and contrast to national estimates for childhood and adolescent obesity
• articulate how this type of nationally recommended assessment can be implemented as a model policy that enhances efforts to improve the school environment

Keywords: Obesity, School Health

Related Web page: www.achi.net/current_initiatives/obesity.asp

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No