American Cancer Society guideline for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) publishes the Diet and Physical Activity Guideline to serve as a foundation for its communication, policy, and community strategies and, ultimately, to affect dietary and physical activity patterns among Americans. This guideline is developed by a national panel of experts in cancer research, prevention, epidemiology, public health, and policy, and reflects the most current scientific evidence related to dietary and activity patterns and cancer risk. The ACS guideline focuses on recommendations for individual choices regarding diet and physical activity patterns, but those choices occur within a community context that either facilitates or creates barriers to healthy behaviors. Therefore, this committee presents recommendations for community action to accompany the 4 recommendations for individual choices to reduce cancer risk. These recommendations for community action recognize that a supportive social and physical environment is indispensable if individuals at all levels of society are to have genuine opportunities to choose healthy behaviors. This 2020 ACS guideline is consistent with guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association for the prevention of coronary heart disease and diabetes as well as for general health promotion, as defined by the 2015 to 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Evaluation of the healthy schools program: Part II. The role of technical assistance.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence-based technical assistance may be needed to implement recent federal policy to prevent childhood obesity through the schools. The Healthy Schools Program is the largest school-based obesity prevention program in the United States. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the role of the program's training and technical assistance and to explore other contributing factors in changing school policies, practices, and environments. METHODS: We analyzed interim progress of schools recruited during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years as of December 2010. Schools reported progress through an online inventory of policies, practices, and school environment. We compared baseline inventories to the most recent follow-up and tracked both training attendance and contact with national experts. To identify the factors associated with progress, we performed regression analysis on school level and demographics, number of months between baseline and follow-up, and technical assistance. RESULTS: The amount of training and technical assistance was significantly associated with school progress, controlling for school level and demographics, number of months between baseline and follow-up, and school status at baseline. Although all types of schools saw progress, schools in the South had the most progress and urban schools had the least progress. CONCLUSION: Evidence-based training and technical assistance were associated with school progress in changing policies, practices, and environment to prevent childhood obesity.

Improving short-term sun safety practices among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer: a randomized controlled efficacy trial.

INTRODUCTION: Skin cancer is one of the most common secondary neoplasms among childhood cancer survivors. However, little evidence exists for effective interventions to promote sun safety behaviors within this population. METHODS: This small-scale randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of the Survivor Health and Resilience Education (SHARE) Program intervention, a multiple health behavior change intervention designed to increase sun safety practices among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer. Adolescent survivors of childhood cancer (11-21 years) were randomly allocated to a group-based behavioral intervention (n = 38) or wait-list control (n = 37). Self-reported sun safety behaviors were assessed using a valid, 8-item scale at baseline and 1-month post-intervention. RESULTS: Controlling for baseline sun safety, gender, and seasonal influences, intervention participants reported significantly more sun safety practices (e.g., using sunscreen, reapplying sunscreen regularly) at 1-month post-intervention than control participants (B = 2.64, 95% CI = 1.02, 4.27, p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that SHARE was efficacious in producing improvements in short-term self-reported sun safety practices among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer. Future research is needed to build upon this work by incorporating objective measures of sun safety behaviors and examining intervention durability. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Behavioral interventions addressing lifestyle factors, including sun safety behaviors, among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer should be integrated into long-term care to reduce the risk for secondary malignancies and diseases.

Efficacy of the Survivor Health and Resilience Education (SHARE) program to improve bone health behaviors among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to test the efficacy of the Survivor Health and Resilience Education Program intervention--a manualized, behavioral intervention focusing on bone health behaviors among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer. METHODS: Participants were 75 teens aged 11-21 years, one or more years post-treatment, and currently cancer-free. Teens were randomized to a group-based intervention focusing on bone health or a wait-list control. Bone health behaviors were assessed at baseline and 1-month post-intervention. RESULTS: Controlling for baseline outcome measures and theoretical predictors, milk consumption frequency (p=0.03), past month calcium supplementation (p<0.001), days in the past month with calcium supplementation (p<0.001), and dietary calcium intake (p=0.04) were significantly greater at 1-month follow-up among intervention participants compared with control participants. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention had a significant short-term impact on self-reported bone health behaviors among adolescent survivors of childhood cancer. Research examining long-term intervention effectiveness is warranted.