School Food and Physical Activity Environment: A Longitudinal Analysis of Four School Districts in New Jersey.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Exposures to favorable environments in childhood, including those in schools, are associated with healthy habits among children. In this study, we developed a series of indices aimed at measuring students' exposure to different dimensions of the school food and physical activity (PA) environment. We implemented these indices to investigate how different aspects of the school food and PA environment changed over time and examined their correspondence with known changes in relevant policies and programs.

Methods

All public schools (n= 141) in four school districts in New Jersey provided detailed food and PA environment data for each school year from 2010-2011 to 2015-2016. Seven food environment indices, three PA environment indices, and two additional indices that cap

SUBMITTER: Acciai F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6827867 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature