Health Promoting Secondary Schools: Community-Based Research Examining Voice, Choice and the School Setting

Abstract

Background: Health Promoting Secondary Schools (HPSS) was a 'whole school' program across five intervention and five control high schools in British Columbia, Canada designed to improve the Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) and healthy eating behaviors of grade 10 students. HPSS was implemented over one school year (2011)(2012) and included classroom activities, changes to school policies, input from teachers and students, student leadership opportunities, and was tailored for each school. Teachers were provided with choicebased Physical Education (PE) and health curricula, as well as monetary grants to purchase equipment and supplies. This manuscript presents an overview of the development and evaluation of HPSS.Methods: This initiative employed mixed methods for data collection and analyses, including standardized questionnaires, focus groups, accelerometers, and fitness testing over three phases of data collection (T1, T2, T3); five key survey variables are discussed here to provide initial results on the effect of the HPSS model. The SHAPES Questionnaire and 20-meter shuttle run were used to assess these outcome measures.Results: A repeated measures ANOVA showed a decline in total MVPA (F = 89.29, p < 0.01, d=1.01) and weekday MVPA (F=136.33, p<0.01, d=0.25) across groups pre to post-test; an interaction effect for fitness (F=5.66, p<0.05, d=0.25); a significant decline in Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSB) over time for both conditions (F=10.85, p < 0.01, d=0.35) ; a non-significant trend towards decreased screen time for the intervention group; and a significant interaction for fitness (F = 5.66, p < 0.05, d=0.29).Time 1 to Time 3 was significant for fruit and vegetable intake (F=5.94, p<0.05) and approached a significant interaction in favor of the control group (F=2.95, p=0.06, d=0.59), and an interaction for weekday PA (F=3.38, p<0.05, d=0.70). Conclusions:Although many of the variables in this initial analysis did not yield a statistically significant treatment effect, looking to effect sizes, trends, qualitative data and contextual factors may be helpful at this time in order to refine the program and adhere to the goal of creating an initiative that can be improved and modified to be utilized in other. It is also promising to see that the intervention group fared better in terms of fitness and weekday MVPA decline than the control group despite the obstacles faced during the intervention year.

Complexity of choice: Teachers’ and students’ experiences implementing a choice-based Comprehensive School Health model

“…School demographic characteristics showed an average household income of C$80,097, with 25.6% of students identifying as a visible minority and 7.4% as First Nation heritage (Wharf Higgins et al, 2013). Participants completed and returned informed consents prior to the study onset.…”

“…HPSS was a CSH and SDT inspired intervention designed to improve the physical activity and eating behaviours of grade 10 students in five intervention schools and five wait-list control high schools in British Columbia, Canada (Wharf Higgins et al, 2013). HPSS offered a choice-based design in which teachers and students tailored programme activities and implementation details to meet individual school needs while delivering intervention activities including school policies, whole-school events, classroom/education activities and student leadership (Wharf Higgins et al, 2013).…”

“…HPSS was a CSH and SDT inspired intervention designed to improve the physical activity and eating behaviours of grade 10 students in five intervention schools and five wait-list control high schools in British Columbia, Canada (Wharf Higgins et al, 2013). HPSS offered a choice-based design in which teachers and students tailored programme activities and implementation details to meet individual school needs while delivering intervention activities including school policies, whole-school events, classroom/education activities and student leadership (Wharf Higgins et al, 2013). Schools were asked to establish an Action Team (at least half of whom were students), which was provided funding to purchase equipment or services to support whole-school events/policies, and a trained School Facilitator (individual hired and trained by HPSS research team) to help assist with planning and implementation.…”

“…Evaluation of the HPSS programme showed students in the intervention group fared better in terms of fitness and weekday moderate-to-vigorous physical activity decline than the control group (Wharf Higgins et al, 2013) despite facing a teacher strike during the intervention year (Wharf Higgins et al, 2014).…”

Differences in adolescents' physical activity from school-travel between urban and suburban neighbourhoods in Metro Vancouver, Canada

“…We drew samples from two school-based studies: Health Promoting Secondary Schools (Fall 2011) ( Wharf Higgins et al, 2013 ) and Active Streets, Active People–Junior (Fall 2013). The ‘suburban’ group consisted of students attending three public high schools in Surrey, a Metro Vancouver suburb.…”