University of Illinois at Chicago, Institute for Health Research and Policy, Chicago, IL 60608, USA.
J Sch Health. 2012 May;82(5):239-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2012.00693.x.
School-based measurement of children's body mass index (BMI) is a useful tool for tracking childhood obesity rates, and may be an effective intervention strategy for reducing the increasing trends in obesity. This article examines the relationship between state law, district policy, and school-level BMI measurement practices.
Data were collected during 3 school years (2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009) as part of an annual study on health policies and practices in a nationally representative sample of US public elementary schools. Data collected included school-level data via a mailed questionnaire, and district-level policies and state laws from publicly available sources. We examined whether state laws and district policies were linked to school-level BMI measurement, either directly, or via a mediation effect.
Schools were most likely to measure student BMI if there was a state law in place (65.0% of schools) than where there was not a state law regarding BMI measurement (38.4% of schools; χ(2) = 120.91, p < .001). However, school-level BMI measurement did not differ by whether the district had a relevant policy or not (49.8% vs. 49.2%, ns). These effects held up in multivariate logistic regression models controlling for relevant school-level covariates (region, race/ethnicity, location, school size, and socioeconomic status). Schools in the south and those with a majority of White students were most likely to measure students' BMI.
State laws are associated with school-level BMI measurement, and therefore may be a helpful tool in monitoring and addressing childhood obesity.
以学校为基础的儿童体重指数（BMI）测量是跟踪儿童肥胖率的有用工具，并且可能是减少肥胖趋势增加的有效干预策略。本文探讨了州法律、地区政策和学校层面 BMI 测量实践之间的关系。
数据是在 3 个学年（2006-2007 年、2007-2008 年、2008-2009 年）期间收集的，作为对美国公立小学年度健康政策和实践的全国代表性样本的一部分。收集的数据包括通过邮寄问卷获得的学校层面数据，以及从公开来源获得的地区政策和州法律。我们研究了州法律和地区政策是否与学校层面的 BMI 测量直接相关，或者通过中介效应相关。
如果有关于 BMI 测量的州法律（65.0%的学校），学校更有可能测量学生的 BMI，而不是没有关于 BMI 测量的州法律（38.4%的学校；χ(2) = 120.91，p <.001）。然而，无论地区是否有相关政策，学校层面的 BMI 测量都没有差异（49.8%与 49.2%，无统计学意义）。在控制了相关学校层面协变量（地区、种族/民族、位置、学校规模和社会经济地位）的多变量逻辑回归模型中，这些结果仍然成立。南部地区和以白人学生为主的学校最有可能测量学生的 BMI。
州法律与学校层面的 BMI 测量相关，因此可能是监测和解决儿童肥胖问题的有用工具。
