141st APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

283025
Impact of a longitudinal school-based intervention on soda intake among elementary and middle school children


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Dong-Chul Seo, PhD, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health - Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Mindy King, PhD, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Nayoung Kim, MA, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Danielle Sovinski, MPH, Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
Alyssa M. Lederer, MPH, CHES, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Heidi Knoblock, Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN
Rhonda Meade, MS, Welborn Baptist Foundation, Inc., Evansville, IN
Background: Literature increasingly indicates that soda intake is related to childhood obesity.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the HEROES (Healthy, Energetic, Ready, Outstanding, Enthusiastic Schools) Initiative on soda intake among elementary and middle school students (N = 1827, 10 schools) who were exposed to the program for 18 months.

Significance: The HEROES Initiative is a multi-level longitudinal intervention with a rigorous evaluation framework that has been found to facilitate behavior change including soda intake among children.

Methods: The weight and height of students were measured, at baseline, 6 months, and 18 months. Sequential generalized estimating equations (GEE) of self-reported soda intake changes were modeled using SAS 9.3 while accounting for clustering effects within the same school.

Results: A significant downward trend (p < .001) was observed in soda intake for the models without school-level variables. When school-level variables were considered, a significant interaction (p = .023) was found between time and each school's fidelity score for program implementation. Soda intake decreased more rapidly for the students in schools with high fidelity scores than those in low fidelity scores.

Conclusion: Implementation of the HEROES Initiative with high fidelity appears to be effective in decreasing soda intake among elementary and middle school children while heterogeneity of soda intake changes is related to well-established individual behavioral covariates.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Explain the impact of the HEROES Initiative on soda intake among elementary and middle school students who were exposed to the program for 18 months. Identify different correlates of prospective changes in soda intake among elementary and middle school students.

Keyword(s): Evaluation, School-Based Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a third year doctoral student in Applied Health Science at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington. I am the Research Associate for the HEROES Initiative and have conducted several formative and evaluation research.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
Welborn Baptist Foundation Evaluation Independent Contractor (contracted research and clinical trials)

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 2044.0: School Health Services