title: The impact of Action Schools! BC on the health of Aboriginal children and youth living in rural and remote communities in British Columbia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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 2007-2008 school year for children and youth in 3 remote First Nations villages in northwestern British Columbia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pre-experimental pre/post design was conducted with 148 children and youth (77 males, 71 females; age 12.5±2.2 yrs).
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated changes in obesity (body mass index [wt/ht(2)] 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±1.07 to 0.57±1.04 (p<0.05). No change was detected in PA or CV risk but aerobic fitness increased by 22% (25.4±15.8 to 30.9±20.0 laps; p<0.01). There was an increase in the variety of vegetables consumed (1.10±1.18 to 1.45±1.24; 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.
authors.affiliation: School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada.
authors.forename: Dona
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tomlin
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Naylor
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zorzi
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Constadina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Panagiotopoulos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001955:British Columbia; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population