Evaluating the Impact of Health Promoting School Initiative on Dietary Habits and BMI of Students in Oman.

This study aimed at evaluating health promoting schools (HPS) initiative carried out on a sample of schools from all regions in Oman. The evaluation sought to assess the impact of the initiative on students' dietary behavior and body mass index (BMI). The static group comparison design was employed. The study was conducted in 15 health promoting schools comprising grades eight and nine and 15 matching conventional schools (CS). A total sample of 1535 students (752 intervention group-HPS, 783 comparison group-CS) participated in the study. The self administered questionnaire directed to students was used to collect data. Weight and height of each student were measured and BMI was calculated. Male students in HPS showed significant favorable behavior than those in CS regarding eating fruits, consuming fast food and soft drinks. On the other hand, female students in HPS showed significant favorable behavior than those in CS regarding eating breakfast and vegetables. Male and female students in HPS showed significantly higher mean total dietary behavior score than male and female students in CS. Lower percentage of HPS male students were underweight and obese compared to students from CS with significant difference. Positive changes in students' dietary behaviors were achieved by adopting the health promoting school initiatives with obvious difference between male and female students. Expansion of HPS initiative to other schools in Oman is recommended. Innovative nutrition program need to be developed and implemented by HPS to further impact eating behaviors and nutritional status of school children. Given the differences in the effectiveness of HPS initiative between male and female students, there is a need to develop and evaluate separate interventions for each of them.