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G S Parcel

Publications and source records attributed to G S Parcel.

98 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
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Preschool health education program (PHEP): analysis of educational and behavioral outcome.

A health education curriculum structured around age-appropriate types of behavior that enable children to assume more responsibility for their own health was developed, taught, and evaluated in an early childhood learning center. The curriculum was then field-tested and evaluated in several additional preschools utilizing a design which included comparable nonintervention preschools. The findings indicate that the curriculum contributed to learning and suggest that it has some potential in influencing health related behavior. It is not possible to determine from the findings the precise contribution of the curriculum to the observed changes in children's learning outcomes and health behavior. It is likely that the curriculum and the children's general maturation and development all contributed to the changes observed. The studies demonstrated that the curriculum was effectively structured to be appropriate for the targeted age group, acceptable for use by preschool staff and easily implemented into a variety of preschool settings.

Age Factors↗
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The effects of the child and adolescent trial for cardiovascular health intervention on psychosocial determinants of cardiovascular disease risk behavior among third-grade students.

PURPOSE: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health is a multi-site study of a school-based intervention designed to reduce or prevent the development of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The goal was to change (or prevent) related risk behaviors and the psychosocial variables that theoretically influence those behaviors. DESIGN: A nested design was used in which schools served as the primary unit of analysis. Twenty-four schools participated at each of four sites (Austin, San Diego, Minneapolis, and New Orleans). Each site had 10 control and 14 intervention schools. SETTING AND SUBJECT: Ninety-six schools (with more than 6000 students) in the four sites were randomized to three treatment conditions: control, school-based interventions, and school-plus-family interventions. The sample included approximately equal numbers of males and females and was 67.5% white, 13.9% African-American, 13.9% Hispanic, and 4.7% other. MEASURES: The psychosocial determinants included improvements in dietary knowledge, intentions, self-efficacy, usual behavior, perceived social reinforcement for healthy food choices, and perceived reinforcement and self-efficacy for physical activity. RESULTS: The findings indicated significant improvements in all the psychosocial determinants measured (p < .0001). The results revealed a greater impact in the school-plus-family intervention schools for two determinants, usual dietary behavior and intentions to eat heart-healthy foods. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support theory-based interventions for changing selected psychosocial determinants of cardiovascular disease risk behavior among children.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Children's frequency of consumption of foods high in fat and sodium.

We administered a food frequency instrument to third-fifth grade students (n = 943) in four Texas schools. Comparison of foods reported on the food frequency questionnaire and on 24-hour dietary recalls (n = 7) produced a percent agreement of 83.3. The most frequent 25 foods accounted for 64.0% of food choices across all meals, 93.5% of breakfast choices, 76.4% of lunch choices, 70.5% of supper choices, and 76.0% of snack choices. Breads, milk, hamburger or steak, soda pop, tomato sauce or tomatoes, and cheese were the most frequently consumed foods. Fruits and juices accounted for 6.1% of total selections for boys and 6.6% for girls, while vegetables accounted for 15.7% of total selections for boys and 16.2% for girls. Fruit was more likely to be consumed for snacks than for meals, and vegetables were consumed in about the same frequency at lunch and supper and for snacks. We analyzed the total fat, saturated fat, and sodium content of the most frequently consumed foods. Seventeen of the top 25 foods for the total day and 13-16 for each meal or snack exceeded by at least 50% the recommended levels for fat, saturated fat, or sodium. The pattern of consumption was one of frequent consumption of a relatively small number of foods, many of which are high in fat or sodium.

Child↗
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Current knowledge about the health behavior of young children: a conference summary.

Twenty-five researchers involved in work related to the health behavior of young children attended an invitational conference to achieve consensus regarding: (a) the definitions, research methods, instruments, and variables that should guide future research into the health behavior of young children, and (b) the nature of the knowledge deficits that should be addressed by future research. The researchers examined the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors related to health behavior, the important types of health behavior of children, the valid indicators of health behavior, and the conceptual framework within which these things can be viewed effectively. Although the stated goal of the conference was not achieved (i.e., to gain consensus about a set of guidelines in order to focus directions in data collection and thereby to facilitate comparability of results), the conference did obtain interdisciplinary perspectives on the state of the theory, research instruments, and knowledge gaps in the health behavior of children. Innovative research designs, and more rigorous research methods need to be applied to the entire area of health behavior before guidelines can be proposed.

Attitude to Health↗
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Preschool health education program (PHEP): an analysis of baseline data.

As part of the initial stage of a project to develop and field test a health education curriculum for preschool children, baseline data were collected for use in evaluating the impact of the curriculum as well as to determine the relationship of parental health variables and the development of children's health behavior. Mothers of 202 children, 2, 3 and 4 years of age were interviewed to determine if parental health variables were related to their children's reported practice of health and safety behaviors. The analysis showed no relationship between health related background variables, mothers' health behavior, health locus control, value placed on health and the children's practice of health and safety behavior. There was no evidence to support a parental modeling effect for children's health behavior for the subjects participating in this study. The mothers will be interviewed yearly for three more years to observe changes over time and to determine the impact of the health education intervention.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The students for peace project: a comprehensive violence-prevention program for middle school students.

Students for Peace is a three-year project (October 1993- September 1996) designed to evaluate a comprehensive, school-based intervention that seeks to prevent violence among sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students in a large urban school district in Texas. This study examines the hypothesis that students exposed to a two-year multiple-component intervention will reduce aggressive behavior compared to students who receive the district's "usual care" of violence prevention activities. Students for Peace is based largely on Social Learning. Theory (SLT), which addresses both the psychosocial dynamics underlying health behavior and the methods of promoting behavior change, while emphasizing cognitive processes and their effect on behavior. SLT explains human behavior in terms of a model in which three factors-behavior, social-environmental influences, and personal factors (such as personality, perceptions and expectations, and affect)-all interact. Theoretically, an individual's behavior is uniquely determined by a combination of these factors; thus, these factors become the elements for intervention strategies. The intervention program includes four main components: (1) modification of the school environment, (2) a violence-prevention curriculum, (3) peer leadership, and (4) parent education. Students for Peace is using a nested cross-sectional and cohort design in which school is the unit of design, allocation, and analysis. Eight schools, four intervention and four control, are participating. In May 1994, a questionnaire was administered to all students in school the day of the survey. A posttest evaluation was taken in the spring of 1995 and will be followed by a final posttest in spring 1996. A total of 8,865 students responded to the baseline survey. Nearly all variables indicated comparability between treatment and control conditions. As a population, Students for Peace participants are largely Hispanic (65%) or African American (19%). Violence-related variables indicated 30-day fighting prevalence, 23%; 12-month prevalence of injuries due to fighting, 14%; 30-day hand-gun carrying prevalence, 11%; 30-day prevalence of taunts and threats at school, 27%, and threats going to and from school, 26%. Overall, the data from Year 1 activities indicate a population in need of violence-prevention intervention. The challenge is to mold existing district resources into a theoretically sound program of interventions. If that program is found effective, the district will already have the necessary documentation, personnel, and skills for broader dissemination.

Adolescent↗