The Battle River Project
Year 1 Overview and Background
January 30, 2008
Camrose, AB
WHAT
is a blender?
“…an electric kitchen
appliance with rotating blades
used for puréeing, liquefying,
or finely chopping.”
(Oxford Canadian Dictionary, 1998)
What is
the PURPOSE
of a blender?
“…combine compatible
ingredients to produce
something that tastes
good!”
(Doug’s Dictionary of Mixology, 2007)
WHAT is a school?
“An institution for educating or giving instruction,
especially one for students under 19 years.”
(Oxford Canadian Dictionary, 1998)
What is the PURPOSE of a school?
“…ensure that students attain the knowledge
and skills required for lifelong learning, work
and citizenship.”
(Alberta Education Business Plan: 2006-2009)
YOUTH MEETING PHYSICAL
ACTIVITY GUIDELINES
(60 min MVPA 5 days/wk)
70
Canada
60
USA
50
% 40
30
20
10
0
11 yr
boys
13 yr
boys
15 yr
boys
11 yr
girls
13 yr
girls
15 yr
girls
Young People’s Health in Context: HBSC. WHO, 2004
Nutrition?
Children purchasing lunches at schools
 39% more overweight
 39% more obesity
Measured Overweight Ages 2-17
years
CPHI. Promoting Health Weights. 2006.
INTERNATIONAL
FACTORS
NATIONAL/
REGIONAL
Globalization
of
markets
COMMUNITY
LOCALITY
Transport
Public
Transport
Urbanization
Public
Safety
Health
Health
Care
WORK/
SCHOOL/
HOME
INDIVIDUA
L
Leisure
Activity/
Facilities
Labour
Energy
Expenditure
Infections
Development
Social Security
Media
programs
& advertising
Media &
Culture
POPULATION
Sanitation
Worksite
Food &
Activity
System
Manufactured/
Imported Food
Family &
Home
Food
intake :
Nutrient
density
I
T
Y
O%
OBESE
P
R OR
E
UNDERWT
V
A
L
E
Education
Food &
Nutrition
National
perspective
Agriculture/
Gardens/
Local markets
School
Food &
Activity
Source: see Kumanyika Ann Rev Pub Health 2001; 22:293-308
School based promotion of
healthy eating and active living
Preintervention
Postintervention
Friends
Bullying
Social
environment
TV Physical
teachers
environment
Phys Ed?
modeling Negative experiences
Lunches from
School transport
home
Extra-curricular Urban / Rural
vending machine
intramurals
Principal
social
demographics
determinants self esteem
nutrition
academics
School store
School based promotion of
healthy eating and active living
Practitioner’s work:
Preintervention
types of activities
target groups
involvement
planning
collaboration and partnerships
barriers
What is REALLY going on here?
HOW is the intervention implemented?
Give us something to do!
Postintervention
Ever Active Schools
A Health Promoting Schools approach
to creating
Healthy Active School Communities
in Alberta
Vision
Alberta students live, learn and play in healthy,
active school communities.
Mission Statement
The Ever Active Schools Program facilitates the
development of healthy children and youth by
fostering social and physical environments
that support healthy active school communities.
Health Promoting Schools
Instruction
home
school
Environment
community
Services/supports
Health Promoting Schools
A whole school approach where health promotion is
addressed by all stakeholders over a long period of
time through intense integration, coordination, and
enhancements to
Curriculum and teaching methods
Social & physical environments
Family, school, and community
partnerships and services
Health Promoting Schools
involve

Champion(s) in school
 Facilitation of planning processes
 Evidence-based, promising practice
 Evaluation
The Battle River Project
Multi-level partnership
Battle River School District
Ever Active Schools
East Central Health
Funded by
Alberta’s Active Living Strategy
Alberta Healthy School Community
Wellness Fund
Key Question
How can the school environment and
health behaviors (healthy eating,
active living and mental health) of
children and youth be positively
improved when a Health Promoting
Schools model, the Ever Active Schools
Program, is implemented with School
District support?
Theories
Ecological Model
1997)
(Bronfenbrenner, 1977; Kelly, 1990; Sallis & Owen,
 Individual
 Social
Physical Environment
 Organizational
 Community
 Public policy
Action Research (Smits, 1997; A.R. Guide for Alberta Teachers, 2000)





Trigger
Reflect
Plan
Action
Data collection
Theory Justification
Ecological Model
 Focus on Social and Organizational (micro-policy) to
effect individual behaviours
 Trudeau & Shepard (2005) – school an effective
setting to increase MVA in PE, extra-curricular,
active transport and community facilities
 Veugelers & Fitzgerald (2005) – multi-leveled
(micro-policy, social, organizational) intervention
reduced overweight by 59% and obesity by 72%
 Stewart-Brown (2006) – overview of world-wide
HPS (essentially ecological in structure) initiatives
for effectiveness:
 Physical Activity
 Nutrition
 Mental Health Promotion
Theory Justification
Action Research
 Focus on Social and Organizational (micro-policy) to
effect individual
 Smits (1997): “Action research is a form of theory
and practice engaged with real life; practical
questions and issues (p. 282)”
 Catelli, Padovano & Costello (2000): role of
collaboration to permit change and improvement at
all levels with the goal being improvement (EAS,
Schools, BRSD, RHA)
 Franks, et. al. (2007): lessons from CATCH, Planet
Health and Not-On-Tobacco
What it looks like…
Structure








Partnership between EAS, BRSD, ECH, UofA
3 year project / $105,000 each year
Provide support to schools/teachers for PA, MW & HE
Work with BRSD and ECH to set policy and process
Essentially a quasi-experimental feasibility study…
Multiple measures
Possible embedded case studies
Year 1, 2 & 3 measurements of student health
Intervention




EAS / ECH facilitation and resource support
Promising practices and collaboration with all partners
Part-time staff position
Action research principles for on-going improvement
Process
 Year 1 (2007-2008)
 Sign up schools, set up steering committee, initiate
planning, measure baseline
 Year 2 (2008-2009)
 District policy, school sharing, revised planning
 Year 3 (2009-2010)
 Continue revision of plans due to evaluation,
measurement of students, promising and best practice
 Sustainability
 BRSD plan and process for ongoing support
Supports
 District support to implement healthy initiatives in
schools
 Curriculum supports
 Nutrition expertise
 Release time for planning/networking/sharing
 Workshops, resources, promising practices
 Working on priority issues in your school
 Working towards the vision of your school –
developing a game plan for your school
 Measurement and evaluation
Your Role
 Plan and implement a Health Promoting
Schools approach with the help of
project coordinator and project team.
 Administer and review school capacity
and student health measures.
 Contribute to the growth and success of
the project.
Measurement
Capacity Measures
 Common measure of school capacity for health promotion
(where are we now?)
 Done by every school in the BRSD
Surveys
 Survey measures of individuals (students, staff)
 Physical Activity, Mental Wellbeing & Healthy eating (selfreport)
Other
 Accelerometer / pedometer measurement
 BMI
Links with other Projects
 Make the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice (10 schools)
 AHW Study (100 schools)
Health Promoting Schools
“Let us rethink school health away from kits and projects to
solve problems and use the school as an ongoing setting
where health is created, supportive environments are built,
partnerships made and many skills are learned. Then we
might be able to say this is what school communities can
realistically do to build the health and wellbeing of their
students now and into the future.”
(Leger, 2004)
It’s up to YOU…
What will you put into the blender?
More importantly, what do you hope to
pour out?