Welk Gregory J, Chen Senlin, Nam Yoon Ho, Weber Tara E
Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, 255 Forker Building, Ames, IA 50011 USA.
BMC Obes. 2015 May 3;2:20. doi: 10.1186/s40608-015-0049-1. eCollection 2015.
SWITCH® is an evidence-based childhood obesity prevention program that works through schools to impact parenting practices. The present study was designed as a formative evaluation to test whether an online version of SWITCH® would work equivalently as the established print version.
Ten elementary schools were matched by socio-economic status and randomly assigned to receive either the print (n = 5) or online (n = 5) version. A total of 211 children from 22, 3(rd) grade classrooms were guided through the 4 month program by a team of program leaders working in cooperation with the classroom teachers. Children were tasked with completing weekly SWITCH® Trackers with their parents to monitor goal setting efforts in showing positive Do (≥60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity), View (≤2 hours of screen time), and Chew (≥5 servings of fruits and vegetables) behaviors on each day. A total of 91 parents completed a brief survey to assess project-specific interactions with their child and the impact on their behaviors.
The majority of parents (93.2%) reported satisfactory experiences with either the online or print SWITCH® program. The return rate for the SWITCH® Trackers was higher (42.5% ± 11%) from the print schools compared to the online schools (27.4% ± 10.9%). District program managers rated the level of teacher engagement in regards to program facilitation and the results showed a higher Trackers return rate in the highly engaged schools (38.5% ± 13.3%) than the lowly engaged schools (28.6 ± 11.9%). No significant differences were observed in parent/child interactions or reported behavior change (ps > .05) suggesting the equivalence in intervention effect for print and online versions of the SWITCH® program.
The findings support the utility of the online SWITCH® platform but school-based modules are needed to facilitate broader school engagement by classroom teachers and PE teachers.
SWITCH®是一项基于证据的儿童肥胖预防计划，通过学校来影响育儿方式。本研究旨在进行形成性评估，以测试SWITCH®的在线版本是否能与既定的印刷版本等效发挥作用。
根据社会经济地位匹配了10所小学，并随机分配接受印刷版（n = 5）或在线版（n = 5）。来自22个三年级教室的211名儿童在一组项目负责人与课堂教师合作的情况下，参与了为期4个月的计划。孩子们的任务是与父母一起完成每周的SWITCH®追踪器，以监测在展示积极的“做”（每天≥60分钟的中等至剧烈体育活动）、“看”（每天≤2小时的屏幕时间）和“嚼”（每天≥5份水果和蔬菜）行为方面的目标设定情况。共有91名家长完成了一项简短调查，以评估与孩子在项目特定方面的互动以及对他们行为的影响。
大多数家长（93.2%）报告称，无论是在线还是印刷版的SWITCH®计划，他们都有满意的体验。与在线学校（27.4%±10.9%）相比，印刷版学校的SWITCH®追踪器回收率更高（42.5%±11%）。地区项目管理人员对教师在项目促进方面的参与程度进行了评级，结果显示高度参与的学校（38.5%±13.3%）的追踪器回收率高于参与度低的学校（28.6±11.9%）。在亲子互动或报告的行为变化方面未观察到显著差异（p>0.05），这表明SWITCH®计划的印刷版和在线版在干预效果上是等效的。
研究结果支持在线SWITCH®平台的实用性，但需要基于学校的模块来促进课堂教师和体育教师更广泛地参与学校活动。
