Enabling the Nation's Schools to Help Prevent Heart Disease, Stroke, Cancer, COPD, Diabetes, and other Serious Health Problems

Abstract

In the United States, more than 53 million young people attend nearly 120,000 schools, usually for 13 of their most formative years. Modern school health programs—if appropriately designed and implemented—could become one of the most efficient means the nation might employ to reduce the establishment of four main chronic disease risks: tobacco use, unhealthy eating patterns, inadequate physical activity, and obesity. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its partners have developed four integrated strategies to help the nation's schools reduce these risks. Participating national, state, and local agencies (1) monitor critical health risks among students, and monitor school policies and programs to reduce those risks; (2) synthesize and apply research to identify, and to provide information about, effective school policies and programs; (3) enable state, large city, and national education and health agencies to jointly help local schools implement effective policies and programs; and (4) evaluate implemented policies and programs to iteratively assess and improve their effectiveness.

Cancer beliefs and prevention policies: comparing Canadian decision-maker and general population views

“…This may reflect a more nuanced understanding of the pros and cons of various policy options among those with greater propensity (and responsibility) to affect policy change, or a reluctance among those elected to influential positions to support policies that may jeopardize (perceived) voter support for particular initiatives. At the same time, non-governmental policy influencers who indicated policy support for environmental interventions may implement cancer prevention strategies in smaller community settings, such as school board districts, workplaces, and media production [21,23,36,70]. While the reasons for variation in levels of support were not examined in this study, there remains a clear opportunity to better utilize evidence to bolster policy influencers to use their decisionmaking power in order to stimulate policy development.…”

“…Henke et al [21,22] describe how policy influencers in industry have implemented workplace cancer prevention policies across the tobacco, healthy eating, and physical activity domains through the CEO Gold Standard Program. Kolbe et al [23] report on sample policies to encourage physical activity and healthy eating, and to discourage tobacco use, at schools throughout the USA. Research on the importance of media policy influencers is also increasing.…”

Predictors of physical activity, healthy eating and being smoke-free in teens: A theory of planned behaviour approach

“…Baranowski, Anderson, and Carmack (1998) and Sharma (2006) suggest that using a theoretical framework for school-based programming helps determine which constructs work and to what extent. Unfortunately, evidence of the effectiveness of multiple behaviour change for some school-based interventions has been moderate and conflicting (Dooris, 2006;Kolbe et al, 2004). One explanation might be that the same intervention approach (i.e.…”

Innovation and effectiveness: changing the scope of school nurses in New Zealand secondary schools

“…3 School-based health services, when appropriately developed and implemented, are potentially one of the most effective means to influence the health and well-being of future generations. 4 School nurses can provide a vital link between health and education. School-based health care can improve young people's access to primary health care.…”