Georgia State University, 125 Decatur Street, SE, Suite 137, Atlanta, GA 30303.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 225 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506.
J Sch Health. 2020 Apr;90(4):257-263. doi: 10.1111/josh.12871. Epub 2020 Jan 27.
School wellness legislation has potential to impact the health of children and alter the obesity crisis in the United Sates. Little is known about how state lawmakers perceive child wellness legislation effectiveness relative to obesity prevention. Our purpose was to understand state lawmakers' perceptions of childhood obesity and school wellness policies relative to the Social Ecological Model (SEM).
Twenty-one state representatives and nine state senators from one US state completed in-depth interviews. Member checks and peer debriefing occurred throughout data collection and analysis. Transcripts were coded and triangulated. A conventional content analysis generated consistent themes.
Five main themes developed: (1) child overweight and obesity is problematic; (2) current legislation is ineffective; (3) funding and enforcing child wellness legislation is difficult; (4) it is difficult to legislate personal behavior; and (5) efforts from other levels of the SEM are more effective at promoting wellness.
Lawmakers understand negative impacts of child obesity, but perceive immediate legislative issues like budgetary concerns inhibit robust policy-oriented action. Participants believe parents, guardians, and individuals should ultimately be responsible for child wellness. Community, school, and family efforts to address childhood obesity and support wellness may be more effective in achieving positive outcomes than state and federal policy.
学校健康立法有可能影响儿童的健康，并改变美国的肥胖危机。对于州立法者如何看待儿童健康立法相对于肥胖预防的有效性，人们知之甚少。我们的目的是了解州立法者对儿童肥胖和学校健康政策的看法，相对于社会生态学模式 (SEM)。
来自美国一个州的 21 名州代表和 9 名州参议员完成了深入访谈。在数据收集和分析过程中进行了成员检查和同行汇报。抄本进行了编码和三角剖分。常规内容分析产生了一致的主题。
形成了五个主要主题：(1)儿童超重和肥胖是有问题的；(2)现行立法无效；(3)为儿童健康立法提供资金和执行立法很困难；(4)很难立法个人行为；(5) SEM 的其他层次的努力在促进健康方面更有效。
立法者了解儿童肥胖的负面影响，但认为预算方面的担忧等当前立法问题会阻碍强有力的以政策为导向的行动。参与者认为父母、监护人以及个人最终应该对儿童健康负责。社区、学校和家庭为解决儿童肥胖问题和支持健康所做的努力可能比州和联邦政策更能有效实现积极成果。
