Abstract
Prevalence of obesity among American Indian children is higher than the general US
population. The school environment and teachers play important roles in helping students
develop healthy eating habits. The aim of this prospective study was to examine teachers'
classroom and school food practices and beliefs and the effect of teacher training
on these practices and beliefs. Data were used from the Bright Start study, a group-randomized,
school-based trial that took place on the Pine Ridge American Indian reservation (fall
2005 to spring 2008). Kindergarten and first-grade teachers (n=75) from 14 schools
completed a survey at the beginning and end of the school year. Thirty-seven survey
items were evaluated using mixed-model analysis of variance to examine the intervention
effect for each teacher-practice and belief item (adjusting for teacher type and school
as random effect). At baseline, some teachers reported classroom and school food practices
and beliefs that supported health and some that did not. The intervention was significantly
associated with lower classroom use of candy as a treat (P=0.0005) and fast-food rewards (P=0.008); more intervention teachers disagreed that fast food should be offered as
school lunch alternatives (P=0.019), that it would be acceptable to sell unhealthy foods as part of school fundraising
(P=0.006), and that it would not make sense to limit students' food choices in school
(P=0.035). School-based interventions involving teacher training can result in positive
changes in teachers' classroom food practices and beliefs about the influence of the
school food environment in schools serving American Indian children on reservations.
Keywords
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Biography
C. Arcan is a research associate, Division of Epidemiology and Community of Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
P. J. Hannan is a senior research fellow, Division of Epidemiology and Community of Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
J. H. Himes is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community of Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
B. H. Rock is a field site coordinator, Division of Epidemiology and Community of Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
M. Smyth is director, Division of Epidemiology and Community of Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
M. Story is a professor, Division of Epidemiology and Community of Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Biography
J. A. Fulkerson is an associate professor, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 23, 2013
Accepted:
April 14,
2013
Footnotes
STATEMENT OF POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
FUNDING/SUPPORT This research was supported by grant no. 1 R01 HL078846 from the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
