Research from Project Healthy Schools Points in a Positive Direction!
A research component of PHS has resulted in health screenings of students that have parental consent. These screenings include: cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, a fitness step test and a behavioral survey.
- Data from the pre (fall 06) and post (spring 07) screenings for the 598 student cohort show significant decreases in mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and heart rate.
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For those students who were screened in the fall 06 and fell into higher risk categories, significant decreases were shown in the spring screenings for their mean systolic blood pressure, mean diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, random glucose, and LDL ("bad") cholesterol in those who had a baseline LDL between 130 and 160.
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Questions from the behavioral questionnaire showed that some habits improved, including milk choices, beverage choices, fruit intake, and some types of exercise.
The top three changes the sixth graders said that they made in their
lives due to PHS (in the 2008-2009 school year) were:
- Getting more minutes of physical activity (42.1%)
- Eating less fast food (39.0%)
- Eating more fruits and veggies (37.4%)
