Dearborn SHINES: The Impact Of A Comprehensive School Health Intervention

Abstract

PURPOSE: Arab Americans account for almost 3.7 million people in the U.S., however, limited health data is available on youth and adult populations. In order to better understand the health behaviors of Arab Americans and aid in the push for healthy lifestyles in children, more research should be conducted. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to implement a culturally relevant healthy eating (HE) and physical activity (PA) intervention known as D-SHINES in a primarily Arab-American school district and understand the impact it had on students’ overall PA, attitude toward PA and HE, as well as PA and HE knowledge, and perceived social support. METHOD: Eight schools participated in the D-SHINES intervention over one school year, with 264 (Mage=11.1; Male = 106) randomly selected students participating in pre-post testing. The intervention consisted of physical education utilizing SPARK, PA afterschool clubs, gardening and nutrition programming, and classroom physical activity breaks. Students participated in a pre-post survey with validated measures for overall PA level, HE and PA attitude, knowledge, and perceived social support. Implementation of the garden, HE, and PA curriculum tools were also tracked for fidelity. RESULTS: T-tests were used to determine differences among students from pre-post intervention. Results showed that students significantly increased their HE and PA knowledge over the course of the year (p<.001), as well as their PA attitude (p=.021). There was no significant difference observed in overall PA levels (p=.92), vigorous PA (p=.08), and perceived social support. Additionally, MANCOVA’s showed significant differences among the variables between grade and gender (p<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Although limitations exist, the results show that while the D-SHINES program was implemented in the school, students’ significantly improved their attitudes and knowledge toward HE and PA, yet, failed to show a significant increase in overall PA. Additionally, great strides were made with teachers and schools to build and implement the garden curriculum. Additional research should be conducted to better understand successful comprehensive school programming among urban Arab American youth, a population that is often understudied.