title: The Role of Ethnicity in School-Based Obesity Intervention for School-Aged Children: A Pilot Evaluation.
abstract: Rates of obesity have risen disproportionately for ethnic minority youth in the United States. School-based programs may be the most comprehensive and cost-effective way to implement primary prevention in children. In this study we evaluated the effect of a school-based obesity prevention on the outcome of body mass index percentile (BMI%), with baseline weight class and ethnicity examined as moderators.
  
  
  
  Participants (N = 125), ages 7-11 (56% female) from 4 urban, low-income, ethnic minority (58% black, 42% Latino) schools were recruited. Two schools received the Urban Initiatives Work to Play health intervention, and 2 demographically matched schools served as wait-list controls.
  
  
  
  Hierarchical multiple regression was used to analyze the independent and interactive effects of key variables on BMI%. An interaction between intervention status and ethnicity revealed Latino youth in the intervention had lower BMI% than those in the control group. Participation did not cause BMI% outcomes to decrease for black participants.
  
  
  
  The study demonstrates the intervention is effective, but that the effectiveness varies across ethnicity. Interventions can be made more efficient and cost-effective by targeting youth of a common ethnicity that has shown empirical responsiveness to certain program elements.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Children's Health, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, 401 Quarry Road, Palo Alto, CA 94304. skarczew@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Sabrina A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Karczewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 N. Kenmore Avenue, Suite 530, Chicago, IL 60614. jcarter9@depaul.edu.
authors.forename: Jocelyn S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 N. Kenmore Avenue, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60614. ddecator@depaul.edu.
authors.forename: Draycen D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: DeCator
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000367:Age Factors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011203:Poverty; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population
keywords: body mass index; community health; physical fitness and sport; research; school health instruction