NP17 Approaches to Enhancing Wellness Policy Implementation in Schools to Prevent Obesity: Implementation/Plans for Dissemination

Objective “Wellness Champions for Change” (WCC) aims to create health-promoting school environments by training teachers and student leaders (5th or 8th graders) to promote Local Wellness Policy (LWP) implementation. LWPs are school district documents outlining food/physical activity (PA) policies. This abstract describes data collection/intervention implementation at the mid-point of the funding period and plans for dissemination. Description Twenty-one schools (12 elementary/9 middle) serving low-income families in three school districts and 572 students (evaluation cohort) were recruited in grades 3/4 or 6/7 to be followed for 2 years. Schools were block randomized to: WCC-teachers+student leaders, WCC-teachers only, control. Student-level impact is assessed via measures of height/weight (BMI-for-age calculated), PA (accelerometry), and diet (Perceptions of Diet at School screener). Implementation of teacher/student leader curricula is tracked through attendance/activity logs, fidelity checklists, and participant interviews. Local, state, and national dissemination planning is led by a partnership of extension agents, state department of education representatives, eXtension COP members, and WCC wellness specialists/investigators. Evaluation Students were 43% male, 56.5% in elementary school, 45.8% overweight/obese, and averaged 15 minutes/day of moderate-vigorous PA at school (30 minutes/day overall). Most lunches were from the school cafeteria (50%) or home (34%). During lunch, 60% reported consuming a fruit and 37% a vegetable. Six schools completed the intervention year and are in a sustainability-planning year. Of these, all WCC-teachers schools (n = 4) attended training, three built active wellness teams, two focused on PA opportunities and two on promoting school meals/smart snacks. Student leaders (n = 2 schools) focused on included advocating for PA time/promoting healthy eating through social marketing. Fifteen schools are in the intervention year with implementation tracking ongoing. Conclusion and Implications At the mid-point of a five-year project, schools and students within three districts have been recruited/evaluated, with intervention implementation ongoing. Two additional districts will participate in future years. Dissemination plans include train-the-trainer modules, an online professional credit course for teachers, and distributing the manualized student leader curricula to schools with active teacher wellness teams. Funding 2016-68001-24927.