%0 Journal Article
%T The impact of Action Schools! BC on the health of Aboriginal children and youth living in rural and remote communities in British Columbia
%A Dona Tomlin
%A PJ Naylor
%A Heather McKay
%A Alexandra Zorzi
%J International Journal of Circumpolar Health
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.3402/ijch.v71i0.17999
%X Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the short-term impact of a 7-month whole-school physical activity and healthy eating intervention (Action Schools! BC) over the 2007¨C2008 school year for children and youth in 3 remote First Nations villages in northwestern British Columbia. Study design: A pre-experimental pre/post design was conducted with 148 children and youth (77 males, 71 females; age 12.5¡À2.2 yrs). Methods: We evaluated changes in obesity (body mass index [wt/ht2] and waist circumference z-scores: zBMI and zWC), aerobic fitness (20-m shuttle run), physical activity (PA; physical activity questionnaire and accelerometry), healthy eating (dietary recall) and cardiovascular risk (CV risk). Results: zBMI remained unchanged while zWC increased from 0.46¡À1.07 to 0.57¡À1.04 (p<0.05). No change was detected in PA or CV risk but aerobic fitness increased by 22% (25.4¡À15.8 to 30.9¡À20.0 laps; p<0.01). There was an increase in the variety of vegetables consumed (1.10¡À1.18 to 1.45¡À1.24; p<0.05) but otherwise no dietary changes were detected. Conclusions: While no changes were seen in PA or overall CV risk, zWC increased, zBMI remained stable and aerobic fitness improved during a 7-month intervention.
%K physical activity
%K aerobic fitness
%K cardiovascular risk
%K children
%K Aboriginal
%K nutrition
%U http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/view/17999/pdf_1