| Literature DB >> 29944659 |
Florence L Théodore1, Jessica E Moreno-Saracho1, Anabelle Bonvecchio1, María Del Carmen Morales-Ruán2, Lizbeth Tolentino-Mayo1, Nancy López-Olmedo1, Teresa Shamah-Levy2, Juan A Rivera1.
Abstract
Obesity is a serious problem among children in Mexico. In 2010, the government implemented a national food and physical activity policy in elementary schools, to prevent obesity. The goal of this study is to assess the implementation of this policy, using the logic model from a descriptive survey with national representativeness at the elementary school level and based on a stratified cluster design. We used a systematic random sampling of schools (n = 122), stratified into public and private. We administered questionnaires to 116 principals, 165 members of the Food and Physical Activity Committees, 132 food school food vendors, 119 teachers, 348 parents. This study evidences a significant deviation in implementation from what had been planned. Our lessons learned are the importance to: base the design/implementation of the policy on a theoretical framework, make programs appealing to stakeholders, select concrete and measurable objective or goals, and support stakeholders during the implementation process.Entities:
Mesh:
Year: 2018 PMID: 29944659 PMCID: PMC6019747 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198585
Source DB: PubMed Journal: PLoS One ISSN: 1932-6203 Impact factor: 3.240
General characteristics of the study population.
| Population | Sex | School Type | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unweigthed, n | Weigthed, n | Men (%) | CI95% | Public (%) | 95% CI | |
| 116 | 61,518 | 41.5 | (32.3–51.4) | 87.5 | (86.8–88.1) | |
| 76 | 38,146 | 25.0 | (14.3–40) | 89.9 | (88.2–91.4) | |
| 89 | 46,816 | 45.0 | (34–56.5) | 89.3 | (86.1–91.8) | |
| 119 | 431,433 | 61.6 | (48.8–73.1) | 88.3 | (78.4–94) | |
| 348 | 62,481 | 10.3 | (7.4–14.3) | 87.7 | (87.1–88.2) | |
| 132 | 56,743 | 16.9 | (11–25) | 87.8 | (85.5–89.7) | |
FC, Food Committee; PA, Physical Activity Committee.
Primary results of the assessment of the implementation of the NP using the logic model.
| Program components | Inputs | Products/outputs | Results/outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Guidelines for the regulation of food sold in schools (mandatory) are not physically present/available in every school. | Low availability of documents (in particular, the normative document) among stakeholders and especially among school food vendors, teachers and the Committee members, compared to availability among principals. | Lack of adherence to the Guidelines for the regulation of food sold in schools and ample availability of energy-dense foods, such as biscuit, little cakes, desserts and sugar-sweetened beverages, was found at the schools (Cf. Jimenez et al, 2017) | |
| 9% of principals and 30% of Committee members were not aware of the existence of theses documents. | |||
| The percentage of stakeholders and food school vendors and parents that reviewed these documents is even lower. | |||
| At the launching, a package with a set of the six documents for the principal and several copies of the six documents to be distributed to teachers, members of Committees, school food venders and parents was sent to each school in the country. | Most of the Committees met between one and three times. Committees met very few times. | Acquisition by all stakeholders of a superficial technical and normative knowledge linked to (a) committee functions, (b) Guidelines for the regulation of food sold in schools. | |
| Partial view of stakeholders about the function of the FC (heavier on supervision of fulfillment of the Guidelines for the regulation of food sold in schools). | |||
| Most of the committees were composed of teachers and principals. Parental involvement was low. | |||
| Food Committees (FC) and Physical Activity Committees (PAC) were supposed to be created in every school, but an important number of schools did not have them established. | Very few committees had created awareness campaigns, offered training and assistance to the school community or developed support documents to generate a culture of healthy living. | ||
| Less than 50% of the elementary schools have a FC. In the remaining half, a teacher generally covered the FC functions. |
Availability and review by stakeholders, teachers, school food vendors of the six documents.
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| (95% CI) | (95% CI) | (95% CI) | (95% CI) | (95% CI) | |
| Normative documents: | |||||
| #1 Program of Action in the School Context (PASE): Guide for principals, committee members, teachers, and school food vendors. | 21.1% | 4.8% | 10.6% | 8.9% | - |
| (14.3–30.1) | (1.8–12.1) | (5.6–18.9) | (4.4–17.1) | - | |
| #2 Guidelines for the regulation of food and beverages sold in primary schools. | 24.4% | 10.4% | 3.4% | 4.2% | - |
| (17.9–32.3) | (5.7–18) | (1.1–10) | (1.4–11.9) | - | |
| Technical documents: | |||||
| #3 Guidelines to promote physical activity in the schools: Guide for principals, teachers, and committee members. | 53.7% | - | 59.4% | 37.7% | - |
| (41.4–65.6) | - | (47.8–70.1) | (27.6–49.2) | - | |
| # 4 Guidelines for the preparation and hygiene of foods and beverages in schools: Guide for principals, teachers, food committee members, and school food vendors. | 61.6% | 49.9% | - | 33.6% | 41.8% |
| (52.8–69.7) | (36.5–63.4) | - | (21.4–48.5) | (29.2–55.7) | |
| #5 How to prepare an adequate school lunch and keep a healthy diet: Guide for parents, families, principals, and food committee members. | 47.1% | 41.6% | - | 29.2% | - |
| (39.8–54.5) | (30.7–53.4) | - | (19.5–41.2) | - | |
| #6 Guidelines for the regulation of foods and beverages sold in primary schools: Principals, teachers, and committee members guide | 28.2% | 10.0% | - | 11.0% | - |
| (22.1–35.4) | (4.2–21.7) | - | (5.9–19.5) | - | |
| Normative documents: | |||||
| #1 Program of Action in the School Context (PASE): Guide for principals, committee members, teachers, and school food vendors. | 20.3% | 5.8% | 6.9% | 5.9 | - |
| (13.7–29) | (2.2–14.8) | (2.9–15.6) | (2.4–14) | - | |
| #2 Guidelines for the regulation of food and beverages sold in primary schools. | 23.2% | 6.5% | 9.2% | 5.4% | - |
| (15.8–32.7) | (2.9–13.7) | (4.3–18.3) | (2.2–12.6) | - | |
| Technical documents: | |||||
| #3 Guide for physical activation. Guide for the school community (principals, teachers, members of the FC). | 62.3% | 10.0% | 56.9% | 39.7% | - |
| (49.9–73.2) | (4.5–20.6) | (45.8–67.3) | (30–50.3) | - | |
| #4 Guidelines for the preparation and hygiene of foods and beverages in schools: Guide for principals, teachers, committee members, and school food vendors. | 54.3% | 47.9% | - | 34.0% | 48.0% |
| (44.7–63.6) | (34.3–61.7) | - | (23.4–46.4) | (35.8–60.5) | |
| #5 How to prepare an adequate school lunch and keep a healthy diet: Guide for parents, families, principals, and food committee members. | 48.7% | 40.7% | - | 24.2% | - |
| (40.1–57.4) | (29.6–52.9) | - | (14.2–38) | - | |
| #6 Guidelines for the regulation of foods and beverages sold in primary schools: Principals, teachers, and food committee members guide | 33.1% | 5.8% | - | 6.7% | - |
| (25.4–41.8) | (2.2–14.8) | - | (2.8–15.1) | - | |
FC, Food Committee; PAC, Physical Activity Committee.
Knowledge of the functions that must be carried out by the food and physical activity committees, according to the principals and to the members of each committee (% affirmative responses and 95% CI).
| % (95% CI) | % (95% CI) | |||
| Contribute to the promotion of safe and healthy environments | 21.8 | (15.2–30.3) | 33.8 | (24–45.2) |
| Supervise the quality of foods and beverages sold at the school food consumption establishments (in terms of hygiene, cost, order and safety) and the fulfillment of the Guidelines for the regulation of food sold in schools | 46.1 | (37.1–55.4) | 81.4 | (70.5–88.9) |
| Coordinate with the school personnel to promote a new culture of health | 13.1 | (7.8–21) | 29.0 | (19.1–41.3) |
| Collaboration with parents/tutors, associations and the educational community, the health sector, for the development of training actions for the school community in order to promote a correct diet within and outside school. | 5.1 | (1.5–16.3) | 14.8 | (7.9–26.1) |
| Promote the consumption of plain drinking water | 5.3 | (2.4–11.3) | 10.3 | (4.5–21.8) |
| Doesn’t know | 0 | - | 7.9 | (3.5–16.8) |
| Other | 6 | (2.7–12.7) | 6.9 | (3.1–14.5) |
| Provide incentives for the implementation and use of the physical activation guides for elementary school teachers. | 36.8 | (28.1–46.3) | 57.1 | (41.7–71.3) |
| Promote the recovery of safe spaces at school and in surrounding areas, to stimulate regular physical activity | 29 | (20.4–39.4) | 39.5 | (28.9–51.2) |
| Search for support resources, specialized personnel and basic equipment for the implementation of regular physical activity at school | 11.8 | (7.7–17.7) | 17.8 | (11.7–26.2) |
| Develop actions and get support from external sources (outside the school), to favor physical activation | 13.4 | (7.9–21.7) | 15 | (8.1–26.2) |
| Other | 7.8 | (3.8–15.5) | 30.2 | (21.4–40.9) |
FC, Food Committee; PAC, Physical Activity Committee.
a 49% of the elementary schools have a FC
B Interview questions were open-ended. Interviewers coded responses based on pre-established categories.
c % of the elementary schools with PAC are unavailable
d Percentages for each category can range from 0 to 100. “Other” responses correspond to answers provided that were not related to committee functions.
Stakeholders, teachers, school food vendors and parent’ knowledge of the main content of the Guidelines for the regulation of food sold in schools.
| Main aspects defined by the Guidelines | Principals | FC members | Teachers | School food vendors | Parents | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | CI95% | % | CI95% | % | CI95% | % | CI95% | % | CI95% | |
| Create a healthy school lunch that meets the nutritional criteria of the Guidelines and contributes to an adequate diet for students. | 77.9 | (69.3–84.7) | 74.2 | (62.7, 83.1) | 70.4 | (60.3, 78.7) | 64.3 | (55.4–72.4) | 52.7 | (47.2–58.1) |
| The selling of vegetables and fruits should be prioritized over the selling of other kind of food | 57.3 | (44.5–69.2) | 63.7 | (51.8–74.2) | 59.5 | (49.3–68.8) | 55.3 | (46.5–63.9) | 49.2 | (41.8–56.6) |
| The selling of plain drinking water should be prioritized over the selling of juice, etc. | 41.4 | (33.6–49.7) | 35.2 | (24.7–47.3) | 32.9 | (21.8–46.2) | 29.5 | (22–38.3) | 24.9 | (20.1–30.5) |
| Beverages with non-caloric sweeteners added should only be sold at junior high schools | 7.9 | (4–15) | 2.4 | (0.5–10.9) | 5.3 | (2.1–12.8) | 4.6 | (1.9–10.4) | 2.3 | (1–5) |
| Foods should fulfill the hygiene norms for handling. | 17.7 | (10.2–28.9) | 16.2 | (9.5–26.4) | 20.5 | (11.9–33.1) | 20.6 | (13.1–30.9) | 9.1 | (5.9–13.8) |
| Only once a week the approved food (e. g. Tacos) can be substituted by a snack (hotdog, slice of pizza, etc.) | 3.4 | (1.3–8.5) | 4.4 | (1.3–13.7) | 0.4 | (0–3.2) | 2.2 | (0.6–7.6) | 1.4 | (0.6–3.4) |
| Twice a week, the prepared lunch can be substituted by liquid foods (such as yogurt) | 1.7 | (0.4–7) | 2.1 | (0.5–8.9) | 1.1 | (0.3–4.7) | 5 | (2.9–8.4) | 2.1 | (1–4.3) |