Middle school students who were offered healthier cafeteria food, more physical education and lessons about health choices improved their cholesterol levels and resting heart rates, according to research presented last week at the American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research 2011 Scientific Sessions.
The four-year school intervention in Ann Arbor, Mich., “shows that programs like this could have long-term impact on obesity and other health risks,” Elizabeth A. Jackson, MD, MPH, co-author of the study and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, said in a news release.
“Such changes may have sustained benefits in terms of reducing incidences of diabetes and cardiovascular disease as the students age.”
The intervention was conducted through Project Healthy Schools, a coalition of the University of Michigan and local community and business organizations working to improve the health and behavior choices of middle school students. Based on its early success, it now is being expanded to about 20 middle schools in Michigan, Jackson said.
Specifically, goals for the students included eating more fruits and vegetables, eating less fatty foods, making better beverage choices, getting at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week and spending less time in front of the TV and computer.
To help determine whether the initiative could decrease future cardiovascular disease and diabetes risks, Jackson and colleagues studied 593 students. They collected data for four consecutive years on body mass index, cholesterol levels, blood pressure, heart rate and student self-evaluations of diet, exercise and other behaviors.
“Results of the wellness survey indicate that, after four years, students continued to make health-conscious decisions,” Jackson said.
The researchers report:
• Average cholesterol decreased from 167.39 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) at the start of the study to 149.04 mg/dL at the end of four years.
• Average low density lipoprotein (LDL) dropped from 92.02 mg/dL at the study’s start to 85.88 after four years.
• Average resting heart rate dropped from 81.3 beats per minute to 78.3 after four years.
A limitation of the study is that it did not compare students in the program to similar groups not participating. Such a comparison study would be the next step in determining an association between initiative participation and health benefits, Jackson said.