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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

[ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation

Evolution of the Health and Fitness �Report Card�: A Community's Journey to Promote Healthy Weight

Katy A. Shea, MPH, CHES1, Robert McGowan, EdD2, Maryann Cappello2, Susan Breen, MS, RN3, Jos� Wendel, MS, RD, LDN3, Mary Margaret Segraves, APRN, PhD3, and Virginia Chomitz, PhD1. (1) The Institute for Community Health, 163 Gore St, Cambridge, MA 02141, 617-499-6612, kashea@challiance.org, (2) Physical Education Department, Cambridge Public School District, 459 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138, (3) School Health Program, Cambridge Public Health Department, 163 Gore St, Cambridge, MA 02141

Objectives: Nationally, schools are considering or adopting a health �report card�. Providing families with individual level data may help change student and parent behaviors and stem the tide of obesity and inactivity. Follow-up by school personnel may also help link families to services. Communities benefit from surveillance of fitness, and BMI data which provides valuable information for program evaluation. Cambridge, MA has used the �report card� model and school-health family �follow-up� for 5 years. This presentation will discuss experience to date including feedback and new challenges.

Intervention: The Cambridge Public Schools have a multi-ethnic urban population with 38% at-risk of, or overweight. In 2001, a system-wide health report card and a targeted school nurse �follow-up� with �at-risk� families was piloted. Five years later, the annual �reports� and family �follow-up� have changed format, content, and implementation strategies based on evaluation data and feedback from parents, students, school personnel, and school nurses.

Results: The 2006 �report� is now shorter, of lower reading level, uses graphics, and has shifted ownership from researchers to school personnel. The family �follow-up� has changed from a targeted response with at-risk families to an approach that includes the entire school community and provides nutrition counseling services for at-risk families. Additional work is necessary to make the �report� and �follow-up� culturally and linguistically appropriate for the Cambridge population.

Discussion: Using and learning from the health �report card� should be an ongoing process that adapts and changes based on community input. The �Cambridge experience� may help direct other community's interventions.

Learning Objectives:

  • At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

    Keywords: Obesity, Report Card

    Presenting author's disclosure statement:

    Any relevant financial relationships? No

    [ Recorded presentation ] Recorded presentation

    Fitness for School-aged Children and Youth

    The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA