School and Home Contributions to Dietary Behaviors of Rural Youth.

PURPOSE: This study examined dietary behaviors of rural youth at school and at home and sociodemographic differences. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used. SETTING: The study took place in five rural schools in the Southwestern US. SAMPLE: Student participants (N = 751) were in 3rd-8th grades. MEASURES: Consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy, and soda/pop, at school and at home, were measured using a modified 7-day recall Youth Risk Behavior survey for nutrition instrument (CDC, 2011); Sociodemographic data. ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistics, frequency tables and MANCOVA were used. RESULTS: Following a natural log transformation of the dependent variables, there were significant multivariate effects in dietary behaviors across schools (Wilks' λ = 0.962, F(16, 2539.4) = 2.05, P = 0.0082) and location (school v. home; Wilks' λ = 0.849, F(4, 831) = 36.94, P < 0.0001). Follow-up tests showed students in some schools reported higher consumption of fruit, vegetable, and soda at home than school, although most reported consuming less than one serving per day of fruit, vegetables, and dairy across settings. There were no significant main effects for gender/grade/ethnicity across behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight poor dietary behaviors of rural youth as well as school/home differences that can help inform efforts to support optimal dietary behaviors of this population. Results should be interpreted considering limitations of the self-report nature of collected data and missing data.

Off-Hours Facility Use in Public High Schools: Physical Activity Potential vs. Reality.

Purpose: Public high school campuses in the United States are generally built with multiple dedicated physical activity facilities from soccer fields to swimming pools. When viewed from a community health standpoint, these campuses hold great potential (if accessible) in providing community members spaces where they can engage in physical activity during non-school hours. Guided by the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) the purpose of this study was to assess access to and use of all physical activity areas on public high school campuses during non-school hours on weekdays and weekend days. Method: Direct observation using the SOPARC instrument was used to assess 19 public high schools across four districts in the Western U.S., by completing 3959 physical activity area sweeps. Results: Facilities were accessible about half of the time (53.4%), but empty 91% of the time. Public high school campuses are an underused resource for community physical activity during non-school hours. Discussion: Increased use of joint-use agreements would enable school districts to increase both the use of campus-based physical activity facilities and physical activity levels of community members who themselves fund the construction and maintenance of schools and school grounds through local taxes. This would help increase the schools' caloric footprint and contribute to improving public health.

The Effectiveness of Equipment Provisions on Rural Middle School Students' Physical Activity During Lunch Recess.

BACKGROUND: Environmental provisions can boost students' discretionary participation in physical activity (PA) during lunchtime at school. This study investigated the effectiveness of providing PA equipment as an environmental intervention on middle school students' PA levels and stakeholders' perceptions of the effectiveness of equipment provisions during school lunch recess. METHODS: A baseline-intervention research design was used in this study with a first baseline phase followed by an intervention phase (ie, equipment provision phase). A total of 514 students at 2 middle schools (school 1 and school 2) in a rural area of the western United States were observed directly using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth instrument. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders. Paired-sample t tests and visual analysis were conducted to explore differences in PA levels by gender, and common comparison (with trustworthiness measures) was used with the interview data. RESULTS: The overall percentage of moderate to vigorous PA levels was increased in both schools (ranging from 8.0% to 24.0%). In school 2, there was a significant difference in seventh- and eighth-grade students' moderate to vigorous PA levels from the baseline. Three major themes were identified: (1) unmotivated, (2) unequipped, and (3) unquestionable changes (with students becoming more active). CONCLUSIONS: Environmental supports (access, equipment, and supervision) significantly and positively influenced middle school students' lunchtime PA levels.

Effectiveness of Secondary School Conceptual Physical Education: A 20-Year Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Previous research findings from Project Active Teen demonstrated the effectiveness of high school conceptual physical education (CPE) in promoting active lifestyles. METHOD: This study followed Project Active Teen participants 20 years after graduation from high school and 24 years after taking a CPE class. Physical activity behaviors were assessed using the same procedures as previous Project Active Teen studies. Activity patterns were compared with patterns while in high school and shortly after high school graduation. Activity patterns were also compared with a national sample of age-equivalent adults. RESULTS: Twenty years after high school graduation, former CPE students were less likely to be inactive and more likely to be moderately active than when in high school and were less likely to be inactive and more likely to be moderately active than national sample age-equivalent peers. They were typically not more vigorously physically active than comparison groups. CONCLUSION: Results support the long-term effectiveness of CPE in reducing inactive behavior and promoting moderate physical activity later in life.