The impact of parent participation on the effectiveness of a heart health curriculum.
This paper presents the findings of a 1982-83 study testing a) the impact of the Chicago Heart Health Curriculum on the behaviors and attitudes toward cardiovascular disease prevention of 647 sixth-grade students in northeast Ohio, and b) the impact of including a Parental Participation Component (N = 322) in conjunction with the Chicago health curriculum program. Using a pre-test/post-test four-group experimental design, data were gathered with a Student Health Questionnaire testing self-reported attitudes and behaviors regarding cardiovascular disease factors prior to and immediately after the implementation of the curriculum. A parental pre- and post-test survey evaluated parental levels of knowledge and current behavior regarding cardiovascular risk factors. Using a one-between-one-within ANOVA model, treatment effects were revealed for three outcome variables: 1) Health Knowledge with higher scores indicating greater heart-health information (F = 34.15, df = 3/590, p less than 0.00005); 2) Attitude Toward Nutrition with higher scores indicating a positive attitude toward one's nutritional intake (F = 4.44, df = 3/517, p less than 0.004); and 3) Shopping Behavior with higher scores indicating healthier food choices (F = 4.27, df = 3/590, p less than 0.005). Results of the Parent Participation Component on student performance revealed that parental involvement had no effect on student knowledge or behavior with regard to cardiovascular disease prevention.
Petchers
M K
MK
School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106.
Hirsch
E Z
EZ
Bloch
B A
BA
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D003479:Curriculum; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education; D009820:Ohio; D010290:Parents