CHECKERBOARD CARDIOVASCULAR CURRICULUM

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This interdisciplinary study is primarily designed to assess the effect of a prototype intervention program designed to improve cardiovascular health of rural, American Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo fifth graders. The basic program will be compared with a control condition and a condition in which the program is supplemented by peer modeling. The program will involve instruction about the heart and cardiovascular system, obesity, nutrition, exercise, smoking and self-control techniques for changing behaviors related to cardiovascular health. A variety of instructional methods including parental and community involvement, lessons in food preparation and storage, and an emphasis on cultural tradition as well as traditional audiovisual and written materials will be used. A secondary purpose of the study will be to collect some descriptive data on health-related knowledge and attitudes in a population which has not previously been studied. Measures of short-term and long-term effects will include a) physical measures: height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and skinfolds, b) physical fitness: the one mile run/walk, c) knowledge measures about the heart and cardiovascular system, nutrition, obesity, smoking, exercise and behavior change, d) self-report measures of eating, exercise and smoking behaviors, e) measures of attitudes toward obesity and self-perception of their own weight and fitness, f) a posttest assessment of their feelings about the program, for those not in the control groups. It is hypothesized that subjects in both experimental conditions will show changes on all measures at the end of the semester in which the major part of the material is presented. Maintenance of the changes is expected to be superior for those in the peer modeling condition, who will have the opportunity to serve as peer models in subsequent years. The focus on incorporating behavioral changes into the life styles of the participants is hoped to lead to permanent reductions in risk factors related to cardiovascular disease.