PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

E J Stone

Publications and source records attributed to E J Stone.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Lymphedema.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Animals↗

Operational design and quality control in the CATCH multicenter Trial.

BACKGROUND: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) was the first multicenter school-based research study to employ the fundamentals of clinical trials including the standardized protocol and Manuals of Operation, a steering committee for study governance, a distributed data system, an extensive quality control system, and a Data and Safety Monitoring Board. METHOD: CATCH tested the effectiveness of changes in school lunches, physical education, smoking policy, curricula, and family activities. Ninety-six elementary schools in four states were randomized to intervention or control conditions. The baseline cohort comprised 5, 106 ethnically diverse third graders followed through fifth grade. RESULTS: The percentages of calories from fat and saturated fat were reduced significantly more in the intervention school lunches than among the controls. Significant increases in moderate to vigorous activity levels in existing physical education classes were made as well. Changes in self-reported dietary, physical activity, and psychosocial measures were significant. There were no significant differences in the physiological measures. Measurement error was generally low for all physiologic measures except skinfolds, indicating a high level of reliability. Across all sites, the coefficients of variation for lipids, height, and weight were less than 3%, whereas for skinfolds, they were considerably higher, ranging from 6 to 8%. Intraclass correlations for lipid studies were also uniformly high at 0.99. Interobserver agreement scores for SOFIT were greater than 90% for 9 of the 11 activities observed. Data entry error rates were low with less than five errors per 1,000 fields for all forms. CONCLUSIONS: The CATCH results provided more scientific evidence on the importance of schools in the population approach to health promotion. Many of the strategies used in this complex multicenter trial in the areas of design and analysis, measurement, training, data management, and quality control protocols might be appropriate for adoption in other studies.

Adolescent↗

Changes in the nutrient content of school lunches: results from the CATCH Eat Smart Food service Intervention.

BACKGROUND: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) tested the effectiveness of a multilevel intervention aimed at promoting a healthful school environment and positive eating and physical activity behaviors in children. The CATCH Eat Smart Program targeted the school food service staff and aimed to lower the total fat, saturated fat, and sodium content of school meals. METHODS: The Eat Smart intervention was conducted in 56 intervention schools over a 2(1/2)-year period.+Five consecutive days of school menu, recipe, and vendor product information were collected from intervention and control schools at three intervals, Fall 1991, Spring 1993, and Spring 1994, to assess the nutrient content of school menus as offered. RESULTS: There was a significantly greater mean reduction in the percentage of calories from total fat (adjusted mean difference -4.1%; P < 0.0001) and saturated fat (adjusted mean difference -1.3%; P = 0.003) in intervention compared with control schools from baseline to follow-up. Although the sodium content of school lunches increased in both conditions, the mean increase was significantly lower in intervention schools (adjusted mean difference -89 mg; P = 0.034). There were no statistically significant differences for total amounts of cholesterol, carbohydrate, protein, dietary fiber, total sugars, calcium, iron, vitamin A value, and vitamin C. Average total calories decreased significantly; however, the mean total calories (683 kcal) for intervention schools remained above one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for this age group. CONCLUSIONS: The CATCH Eat Smart intervention successfully lowered the total fat and saturated fat content of school lunches as offered, while maintaining recommended amounts of calories and essential nutrients.

Adolescent↗

School physical education: effect of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health.

BACKGROUND: Physical inactivity is a risk behavior for cardiovascular and other diseases. Schools can promote public health objectives by increasing physical activity among youth. METHODS: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) was a multicenter, randomized trial to test the effectiveness of a cardiovascular health promotion program in 96 public schools in four states. A major component of CATCH was an innovative, health-related physical education (P+) program. For 2.5 years, randomly assigned schools received a standardized PE intervention, including curriculum, staff development, and follow-up. RESULTS: Systematic analysis of 2,096 PE lessons indicated students engaged in more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in intervention than in control schools (P = 0.002). MVPA during lessons in intervention schools increased from 37.4% at baseline to 51.9%, thereby meeting the established Year 2000 objective of 50%. Intervention children reported 12 more min of daily vigorous physical activity (P = 0.003) and ran 18.6 yards more than control children on a 9-min run test of fitness (P = 0.21). CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a standardized curriculum and staff development program increased children's MVPA in existing school PE classes in four geographic and ethnically diverse communities. CATCH PE provides a tested model for improving physical education in American schools.

Adolescent↗

The effects of the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health upon psychosocial determinants of diet and physical activity behavior.

BACKGROUND: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health is a multisite study of a school-based intervention to reduce or prevent the development of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this paper is to present the evaluation results of the 3-year intervention, focusing upon the psychosocial variables conceptualized as determinants of dietary and physical activity behaviors. METHODS: A total of 96 schools across four study sites (California, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas) were randomized to two treatment conditions: intervention and control. Pre- and postmeasurements on the health behavior questionnaire were collected from over 6,000 students. The data analyses utilized a nested design approach in which schools served as the primary unit of analysis. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses were applied to investigate effect sizes for each determinant and to explore theoretical relationships among the determinants over time. RESULTS: The findings indicated sustained significant effects in improved knowledge, intentions, self-efficacy, usual behavior, and perceived social reinforcement for healthy food choices (P < 0.0001 for these five variables) after 3 years. Intermittent effects were observed for perceived support and self-efficacy for physical activity. No gender by determinant interaction effects were observed, and girls reported significantly greater perceived reinforcement for healthy eating than did boys. CONCLUSION: The CATCH program was effective in changing the psychosocial variables likely to influence a reduction in behavior for cardiovascular disease. The study is significant in that it demonstrates the viability and effectiveness of a sustained multifaceted intervention in a preadolescent population. The results point to a need for greater understanding of adolescent developmental issues and the role of community environment (particularly social support) in creating effective curricula.

Adolescent↗

The effect of adult participation in a school-based family intervention to improve Children's diet and physical activity: the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND. There are strong theoretical reasons for including a family component with a school-based intervention aimed at eating, activity, and smoking behaviors, but the empirical findings to date are limited and show mixed results. The overall CATCH family intervention added only knowledge and attitudinal effects, but no additional behavioral outcomes. This study provides a dose analysis of the family component of the CATCH study by assessing the effect of the level of adult participation. METHOD: This secondary analysis included students who attended a CATCH family intervention school during all 3 years of the study. The extent of the adult-child interaction, the key aspect of the CATCH family intervention, was measured by the number of activity packets that an adult household member completed with the child. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the association of adult participation with the child's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to diet and physical activity. RESULTS: Statistically significant results suggested that dose effects were found for knowledge and attitudes related to diet and physical activity. These effects were more pronounced for minority and male students. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that dose response of a family intervention has been shown in the acquisition of positive knowledge and attitudes toward health habit changes. The methodology of dose response can be applied to other health promotion projects.

Adolescent↗

Changes in nutrient intakes of elementary school children following a school-based intervention: results from the CATCH Study.

BACKGROUND: Twenty-four-hour recalls were used to assess the change in nutrient intake among elementary-age school children exposed to the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH). The purpose of this paper is to compare changes in nutrient intakes between treatment groups, sexes, ethnic groups, and the four CATCH sites. METHODS: Twenty-four-hour recalls were administered to a subsample of the CATCH cohort at baseline in third grade and following the intervention in fifth grade (n = 1,182). Changes in nutrient levels for total energy, dietary cholesterol, and dietary fiber and changes in the proportion of energy from fat, protein, carbohydrate, and fatty acids were studied looking at differences by treatment group, sex, ethnicity, and site. Mixed-model analysis of variance was used to examine the change in nutrient intake, defined as intake at follow-up minus intake at baseline. RESULTS: Students in the intervention schools showed statistically significant differences in the changes in total energy and proportion of energy from total fat, saturated fat, protein, and monounsaturated fat compared with students in the control group. Students in the intervention group decreased their total fat intake from 32.7% of energy to 30.3% of energy and saturated fat from 12.8% of energy to 11.4% of energy. There were no significant differences in intervention effects by ethnic group, sex, or site. Differences in nutrient change between the school-only and the school-plus-family intervention groups were nonsignificant. CONCLUSION: The results show that a school-based intervention can positively influence children's intakes of total fat and saturated fat, suggesting that population-based approaches for reducing cardiovascular risk factors in children are feasible and effective. The results are also important in showing that the intervention was effective in Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic students, in boys and girls, and across four regions of the United States.

Analysis of Variance↗

Tobacco use measurement, prediction, and intervention in elementary schools in four states: the CATCH Study.

BACKGROUND: The Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) is a multistate field trial examining the effects of school environment, classroom curricula, and family intervention components in promoting the cardiovascular health of elementary school students. The purpose of this paper is to describe the CATCH tobacco use intervention and measurement, including the adoption of tobacco-free school policies. METHODS: In this study, changes in school tobacco use policies and smoking experimentation among students were assessed. Smoking experimentation was measured in all CATCH schools when the students were in their fifth-grade year. A total of 6,527 subjects in 96 schools in California, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Texas answered questions about behaviors and potential correlates of smoking as part of the CATCH health behavior questionnaire in Spring 1994. School tobacco use policy, an important complement to classroom- and home-based prevention efforts, was promoted as part of the CATCH intervention. The degree to which such policy was implemented was measured using surveys of school officials. RESULTS: At the end of fifth grade, only 4.8% of the subjects indicated that they had experimented with tobacco. School intervention condition was not a factor in the prediction of experimentation. Those whose best friend or sibling smoked, or who had ready access to cigarettes in the home, were more likely to have experimented with smoking. In the 3 years of the study, the percentages of tobacco-free schools went up from 49.7 to 76.8%. Though differences in the rate of policy adoption could not be directly attributed to the CATCH intervention, the implementation of the tobacco-free schools' policies did vary substantially from state to state. Minnesota and Texas, with stronger state laws supporting local policy, had nearly completely smoke-free schools. In spite of a statewide tobacco control initiative, California was slower to implement school policies. Louisiana, which allows local decision making regarding smoking policy, had the most difficulty establishing a policy for all districts. CONCLUSION: Future studies should examine the impact of parallel policy interventions that are ongoing at both school and state levels. Tobacco-free policies appear to be a crucial part of school-based interventions and must be tailored to political and regional factors affecting a given school district.

Adolescent↗

Initiation of a voluntary certification program for health education specialists.

As health education has become a major strategy for addressing current health problems, the need for expertise in health education has increased. Today health education specialists work not only in health agencies and educational institutions but also in hospitals and other health and medical facilities, in businesses and industries, and in consulting firms. To promote quality assurance in the delivery of health education services to the public, the profession has launched a voluntary credentialing system for health education specialists. Seven areas of responsibilities and the competencies that they require have been delineated as generic to the practice of entry level health education specialists, regardless of the setting (for example, school, health agency, work site) where they work. The purposes and rationale for new National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc., are described as well as the benefits of certification for the profession. The events and accomplishments of the past decade that have provided the foundation for the newly established credentialing program for the health education profession are chronicled.

Allied Health Personnel↗

Obtaining an NIH grant: basic building blocks.

The purpose of this paper was to explain the NIH research grant process and highlight competencies for attracting research funding. This information should help readers obtain financial support for important cardiovascular research, especially in the prevention area.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗