Effectiveness of a School Based Intervention for Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases in Middle School Children of Rural North India: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective To assess the effectiveness of a multi-component school based intervention in improving knowledge and behavioral practices regarding diet, physical activity and tobacco use in middle schoolchildren of rural-Ballabgarh, North-India. Methods A total of 40 middle schools were grouped into two...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Indian journal of pediatrics 2015-04, Vol.82 (4), p.354-362
Main Authors: Saraf, Deepika Singh, Gupta, Sanjeev Kumar, Pandav, Chandrakant S., Nongkinrih, Baridalyne, Kapoor, Suresh Kumar, Pradhan, Shishir Kumar, Krishnan, Anand
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior
Child
Feeding Behavior - psychology
Female
Gynecology
Health Education - methods
Health Promotion - methods
Humans
India
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Motor Activity
Organizational Policy
Original Article
Pediatrics
Preventive Health Services - methods
Program Evaluation
School Health Services
Tobacco Use Cessation - methods
Tobacco Use Cessation - psychology
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Summary:Objective To assess the effectiveness of a multi-component school based intervention in improving knowledge and behavioral practices regarding diet, physical activity and tobacco use in middle schoolchildren of rural-Ballabgarh, North-India. Methods A total of 40 middle schools were grouped into two, based on geographic proximity and randomly assigned to the intervention or control group in a cluster randomized controlled trial. The target population consisted of 2,348 children studying in 6th and 7th grades in these schools. The intervention consisted of a school component (policies), a classroom component (activities) and a family component [Information Education & Communication (IEC) material]. The main outcome measures were knowledge and behavioral changes in physical activity, diet and tobacco which were self- reported. Results Post-intervention, a significant number of intervention schools adopted the tobacco policy (16/19), physical activity policy (6/19) and healthy food policy (14/19) as compared to the control schools ( n  = 21). Knowledge about physical activity, diet and tobacco improved significantly in the intervention group as compared to the control group. Proportion of students attending Physical Training (PT) classes for five or more days in a week in the intervention group compared to the control group increased significantly (17.8 %; p  
ISSN:0019-5456
0973-7693
DOI:10.1007/s12098-014-1562-9