The impact of Action Schools! BC on the health of Aboriginal children and youth living in rural and remote communities in British Columbia.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to determine the short-term impact of a 7-month whole-school physical activity and healthy eating intervention (Action Schools! BC) over the 2007-2008 school year for children and youth in 3 remote First Nations villages in northwestern British Columbia.

STUDY DESIGN

A pre-experimental pre/post design was conducted with 148 children and youth (77 males, 71 females; age 12.5±2.2 yrs).

METHODS

We evaluated changes in obesity (body mass index [wt/ht(2)] and waist circumference z-scores: zBMI and zWC), aerobic fitness (20-m shuttle run), physical activity (PA; physical activity questionnaire and accelerometry), healthy eating (dietary recall) and cardiovascular risk (CV risk).

RESULTS

zBMI remained unchanged while zWC increased from 0.46±1.07 to 0.57±1.04 (p<0.05). No change was detected in PA or CV risk but aerobic fitness increased by 22% (25.4±15.8 to 30.9±20.0 laps; p<0.01). There was an increase in the variety of vegetables consumed (1.10±1.18 to 1.45±1.24; p<0.05) but otherwise no dietary changes were detected.

CONCLUSIONS

While no changes were seen in PA or overall CV risk, zWC increased, zBMI remained stable and aerobic fitness improved during a 7-month intervention.