Rationale and design of the SI! Program for health promotion in elementary students aged 6 to 11 years: A cluster randomized trial

Publication date: April 2019Source: American Heart Journal, Volume 210Author(s): Gloria Santos-Beneit, Patricia Bodega, Mercedes de Miguel, Carla Rodríguez, Vanesa Carral, Xavier Orrit, Domènech Haro, Isabel Carvajal, Amaya de Cos-Gandoy, José Luis Peñalvo, Emilia Gómez-Pardo, Belén Oliva, Borja Ibañez, Juan Miguel Fernández-Alvira, Rodrigo Fernández-Jiménez, Valentin FusterUnhealthy habits in children are increasing at an alarming rate. The school provides a promising setting for effective preventive strategies to improve children's lifestyle behaviors. The SI! Program is a multilevel multicomponent school-based educational intervention aimed at all stages of compulsory education in Spain.Here, we present the design of the SI! Program for Elementary School cluster-randomized controlled trial, targeting children aged 6 to 11 years. This trial aims to study the impact of different timings and intensities of exposure to SI! Program activities on elementary school children and their immediate environment (parents/caregivers, teachers, and school).The trial includes 1770 children from 48 public elementary schools in Madrid (Spain), together with their parents and teachers. Schools and their children were randomly assigned to the intervention group (the SI! curriculum-based educational program over 3 or 6 academic years) or to the control group (standard curriculum). The primary outcomes are the change from baseline at 3-year and 6-year follow-up in children's scores for...
Source: American Heart Journal - Category: Cardiology Source Type: research