Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Norrbacka floor 5, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
Implement Sci. 2009 Aug 3;4:47. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-4-47.
Promoting physical activity and healthy eating habits by structural measures that reach most children in a society is presumably the most sustainable way of preventing development of overweight and obesity in childhood. The main purpose of the present study was to analyse whether policies and plans of action at the central level in municipalities increased the number of measures that aim to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits among schoolchildren aged six to 16. Another purpose was to analyse whether demographic and socio-economic characteristics were associated with the level of such measures.
Questionnaires were used to collect data from 25 municipalities and 18 town districts in Stockholm County, Sweden. The questions were developed to capture municipal structural work and factors facilitating physical activity and the development of healthy eating habits for children. Local policy documents and plans of action were gathered. Information regarding municipal demographic and socio-economic characteristics was collected from public statistics.
Policy documents and plans of action in municipalities and town districts did not seem to influence the number of measures aiming to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits among schoolchildren in Stockholm County. Municipal demographic and socio-economic characteristics were, however, shown to influence the number of measures. In town districts with a high total population size, and in municipalities and town districts with a high proportion of adults with more than 12 years of education, a higher level of health-promoting measures was found. In municipalities with a high annual population growth, the number of measures was lower than in municipalities with a lower annual population growth. Another key finding was the lack of agreement between what was reported in the questionnaires regarding existence and contents of local policies and plans of action and what was actually found when these documents were scrutinized.
Policy documents and plans of action aiming to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits among schoolchildren aged six to 16 in municipalities and town districts in Stockholm County did not seem to have an impact on the local level of measures. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the municipalities and town districts were on the other hand associated with local health-promoting measures.
通过能够覆盖大多数社会儿童的结构性措施来促进身体活动和健康饮食习惯，或许是预防儿童超重和肥胖发展的最可持续方式。本研究的主要目的是分析中央一级的政策和行动计划是否增加了旨在促进 6 至 16 岁学童身体活动和健康饮食习惯的措施数量。另一个目的是分析人口统计学和社会经济特征是否与这些措施的水平相关。
使用问卷从瑞典斯德哥尔摩县的 25 个市和 18 个镇收集数据。这些问题旨在捕捉市政结构工作和促进儿童身体活动和养成健康饮食习惯的因素。收集了地方政策文件和行动计划。从公共统计数据中收集了有关城市人口统计和社会经济特征的信息。
市和镇的政策文件和行动计划似乎并没有影响旨在促进斯德哥尔摩县学童身体活动和健康饮食习惯的措施数量。但是，城市人口统计和社会经济特征会影响措施的数量。在总人口规模较大的镇和在成人教育程度较高（超过 12 年）比例较高的市和镇，发现了更高水平的促进健康的措施。在人口年增长率较高的市，措施数量低于人口年增长率较低的市。另一个关键发现是，在问卷中报告的存在和内容与地方政策和行动计划之间以及在仔细审查这些文件时实际发现的内容之间缺乏一致性。
在斯德哥尔摩县的市和镇中，旨在促进 6 至 16 岁学童身体活动和健康饮食习惯的政策文件和行动计划似乎并没有对地方措施水平产生影响。但是，城市和镇的人口统计学和社会经济特征与当地的促进健康措施有关。
