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Accepted (AM)Open Access (License Unspecified), Open
Journal article
Positive School Climate Is Associated With Lower Body Mass Index Percentile Among Urban Preadolescents
The Journal of school health, v 84(8), pp 502-506
01 Aug 2014
PMID: 25040118
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Schools are an important environmental context in children's lives and are part of the complex web of factors that contribute to childhood obesity. Increasingly, attention has been placed on the importance of school climate (connectedness, academic standards, engagement, and student autonomy) as 1 domain of school environment beyond health policies and education that may have implications for student health outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of school climate with body mass index (BMI) among urban preadolescents.
METHODS: Health surveys and physical measures were collected among fifth-and sixth-grade students from 12 randomly selected public schools in a small New England city. School climate surveys were completed district-wide by students and teachers. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to test the association between students' BMI and schools' climate scores.
RESULTS: After controlling for potentially confounding individual-level characteristics, a 1-unit increase in school climate score (indicating more positive climate) was associated with a 7-point decrease in students' BMI percentile.
CONCLUSIONS: Positive school climate is associated with lower student BMI percentile. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this relationship and to explore whether interventions promoting positive school climate can effectively prevent and/or reduce obesity.
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Details
- Title
- Positive School Climate Is Associated With Lower Body Mass Index Percentile Among Urban Preadolescents
- Creators
- Kathryn Gilstad-Hayden - Data Manager, (kathryn.gilstad-hayden@yale.edu), CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, Yale School of Public Health, 135 College Street, Suite 200, New Haven, CT 06510.Amy Carroll-Scott - Drexel UniversityLisa Rosenthal - Yale UniversitySusan M. Peters - Director of School Initiatives, (susan.marie.peters@yale.edu), CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, Yale School of Public Health, 135 College Street, Suite 200, New Haven, CT 06510.Catherine McCaslin - New Haven Public SchoolsJeannette R. Ickovics - Yale University
- Publication Details
- The Journal of school health, v 84(8), pp 502-506
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 5
- Grant note
- UL1TR000142 / NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCING TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) T32MH020031 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01HD070740 / EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) Patrick and Catherine Weldon Donaghue Medical Research Foundation Aetna Foundation
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Community Health and Prevention
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000339560300004
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84904052602
- Other Identifier
- 991019169008504721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Education & Educational Research
- Education, Scientific Disciplines
- Health Care Sciences & Services
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health