Intervention for improvement the diet and physical activity of children and adolescents in Poland

Abstract

Background. The effects of a two-year educational Programme “Keep Balance” addressed to children and adolescents have been evaluated. Its purpose has been to implement the rules of proper nutrition and increasing the level of physical activity on the population level. Objective. The main objective of the evaluation was an indication if, after two years of programme activities, outcome indicators have been achieved. Material and methods. Approximately 400,000 pupils/students from 1600 educational units from the territory of the whole country have been included in the education programme. The efficiency evaluation has been carried out in a sample of n = 1506 pupils/students in the interventional group and n = 1589 in the control group. Education has been addressed to the entire school environment, pupils, students, parents, teachers, headmasters, and the local community. The survey methodology, body weight and height measurements, the BMI index, and EUROFIT physical fitness tests have been used to assess the effects of the education programme in the scope of knowledge and nutritional behaviour regarding physical activity. There were assumed outcome indicators. The certification of schools/kindergartens with “The Certificate of a School/Kindergarten Friendly to Nutrition and Physical Activity” has been used to evaluate the activation of school environments. Results. There was an improvement achieved over the assumed target points in the level of knowledge of pupils/students in the scope of nutrition and the role of physical activity, in the changes of nutritional habits, and in the results of physical fitness tests. There were achieved 20% increase in knowledge in the scope of nutrition and 5% increase in physical activity. There have been changes in the frequency in the consumption of the first breakfast before going to school (by 25% among the younger ones and by 17% among the older ones), an increase in the consumption of bottled water by 49% and reduction of sweet drinks by 19%. The percentage of the pupils/students consuming the recommended 5 meals increased by 33%. Physical fitness indicators were achieved over assumed 5% increase in the individual exercise tests. The Certificate was obtained after meeting the criteria and documenting the durability of the changes by 65% of 1600 educational units included in the Programme. A decrease in the frequency of overweight and obesity occurrence in the whole intervention sample by 1% was obtained; it was greater (but statistically insignificant) among younger students by 3.3% in comparison to the older ones where there was an increase of 1%. Conclusions. Summing up all achieved results the educational programme “Keep Balance” implemented on the population level aimed at children and adolescents has turned out to be effective and deserves to be continued after minor adjustments. Many positive changes have been identified as well as those that ought to be improved. Comprehensively included education and sometimes small changes in much of nutritional and physical behaviour have influenced the reduction of the percentage of pupils/students with excessive body weight, despite the fact that the average BMI has basically remained on the same level.

Effects of In-Classroom Physical Activity Breaks on Children’s Academic Performance, Cognition, Health Behaviours and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials

“…This may be because there are theoretical assumptions and evidence for the relationships between such outcomes [ 2 , 28 , 35 , 76 , 77 ] even though those are under researched among the primary school level children [ 5 , 41 ]. However, none of the studies focused on diet and intake of vitamin supplements, which are important aspects of child growth and education [ 78 ]. This emphasises the need for future studies that examine the contribution of diet on IcPAB intervention among elementary school children.…”

Factors associated with walking performance among adolescents undergoing cancer treatment: A correlational study

“…This means that adolescents who had higher levels of symptom distress had a worse walking performance, which is supported by the theory of unpleasant symptoms that symptom distress negatively influence functional performance in pediatric patients (Silva-Rodrigues, et al, 2019). Another prior study also echoes our findings, showing that a much greater proportion of adolescents with cancer (13%) abandon their physical activity compared to their healthy peers (0%) (Zapolska, et al, 2018). Therefore, prior to encouraging these adolescents to walk, implementing symptom management to reduce symptom distress is needed.…”

“…Encouragingly, adolescents with cancer have been shown to be able to be motivated to manage their health (Zapolska, et al, 2018), and have the ability to utilize either prescribed or personalized coping strategies, such as sleep/rest, diet, and physical activity, to manage their cancer symptoms (Linder, et al, 2017). This supports the idea that adolescents with cancer can be empowered to manage symptom distress through a combination of shared management and options for autonomous decision-making (Lozano and Houtrow, 2018).…”