Abstract
BackgroundThe SI! Program promotes cardiovascular health through a multilevel school-based intervention on four lifestyle-related components: diet, physical activity, understanding the body and heart, and management of emotions. We report here the development and validation of the KAH (knowledge, attitudes and habits)-questionnaire adapted for elementary school children (6–7 years old) as a tool for the forthcoming evaluation of the SI! Program, where the KAH scoring will be the primary outcome. The efficacy of such an intervention will be based on the improvements in children’s KAH towards a healthy lifestyle.MethodsThe questionnaire validation process started with a pool of items proposed by the pedagogical team who developed the SI! Program for elementary school. The questionnaire was finalized by decreasing the number of items from 155 to 48 using expert panels and statistical tests on the responses from 384 children (ages 6–7). A team of specialized psychologists administered the questionnaire at schools providing standard directions for the final administration. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficients. Reliability was measured through the split-half method, and problematic items were detected applying the item response theory. Analysis of variance and Tukey’s test of additivity were used for multiple comparisons.ResultsThe final KAH-questionnaire for elementary school children should be administered to children individually by trained staff. The 48 items-questionnaire is divided evenly between the 4 components of the intervention, with an overall Cronbach’s α = 0.791 (α = 0.526 for diet, α = 0.537 for physical activity, α = 0.523 for human body and heart, and α = 0.537 for management of emotions).ConclusionsThe KAH-questionnaire is a reliable instrument to assess the efficacy of the SI! Program on instilling healthy lifestyle-related behaviors in elementary school children.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2248-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
The SI! Program promotes cardiovascular health through a multilevel school-based intervention on four lifestyle-related components: diet, physical activity, understanding the body and heart, and management of emotions
It is known that obesity and its related conditions such as diabetes and hypertension are major contributors to the development of cardiovascular disease, and these conditions result from inadequate physical activity and dietary habits [2]
The aim of this paper is to describe the development and validation of the KAH-questionnaire for the forthcoming evaluation of the SI! Program for elementary intervention, since in the previous Colombian study the questionnaire was developed for children aged 3 to 5 years
Summary
The SI! Program promotes cardiovascular health through a multilevel school-based intervention on four lifestyle-related components: diet, physical activity, understanding the body and heart, and management of emotions. Program promotes cardiovascular health through a multilevel school-based intervention on four lifestyle-related components: diet, physical activity, understanding the body and heart, and management of emotions. Program, where the KAH scoring will be the primary outcome The efficacy of such an intervention will be based on the improvements in children’s KAH towards a healthy lifestyle. Program is a school-based intervention to promote cardiovascular health from early childhood [5,6,7]. Through a comprehensive view of health promotion, the Program tackles four inter-related components: diet (D), physical activity (PA), human body and heart (HB), and emotions management (E) [5]. The Program is reinforced by involving teachers, families and the school environment to reach the Santos-Beneit et al BMC Public Health (2015) 15:901 children’s immediate circles. The SHE Foundation provides a series of recommendations for a healthy school setting
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
