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December 18 , 2006
Contact:
Michelle Galey, Communications Office, WSU
Intercollegiate College of Nursing 509/324-7372,
mgaley@wsu.edu;
Ruth Bindler 509/324-7242, bindler@wsu.edu
Becki Meehan, Communications Office, WSU Spokane
509/328-7528, rmeehan@wsu.edu;
Kenn Daratha 509/358-7769, kdaratha@wsu.edu
WSU Faculty Seek Alternative Ways to
Fight Childhood Obesity Through USDA
Grant
SPOKANE, Wash.—Realizing that obesity is a
complex and multi-faceted problem, Washington
State University faculty members Ruth Bindler,
RNC, Ph.D. (WSU Intercollegiate College of
Nursing) and Kenn B. Daratha, Ph.D. (WSU Spokane
Informatics) assembled a multi-organizational,
multi-disciplinary team to address this
epidemic.
The team was recently awarded a $1.33 million
award from the USDA/CSREES (Cooperative State
Research, Education, and Extension Service)
National Research Initiative Human Nutrition and
Obesity Program titled: Comparison of
Environmental Changes in the School Environment
to Individual Interventions as Methods for
Reducing Obesity Rates in Early Adolescence,
which will be implemented in Spokane Public
Schools.
The funding from this significant grant will
allow the team to evaluate the impact of three
levels of intervention through major activities
with nearly 5,000 students at six middle schools
(grades 7-8). The three levels being examined are
school environment (e.g., food offerings,
after-school programs, curriculum), family (e.g.,
parent food buying decisions and activity levels)
and individual behaviors and assessment.
Examples of interventions include increasing
individual child and family knowledge levels
about health life choices, goal setting for youth
related to their own health, improved dietary and
physical activity options during school hours,
and extended after-school and summer programs for
children and families to sustain results.
According to Daratha, “The U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports more
than 18 percent of U.S. youth are overweight, and
another 15 percent are considered at risk of
becoming overweight. Rates of overweight children
have increased 45 percent in the last decade and
have increased three-fold since 1980. Further,
overweight children are increasingly showing
signs of adverse health effects historically
associated with adulthood. Both the CDC and the
World Health Organization indicate childhood
obesity has reached epidemic
proportions.”
The rapid increase in the incidence of obesity
indicates that being overweight is not always due
to genetics, but rather to environmental and
behavioral factors. And, to date, most efforts to
reduce childhood obesity have garnered only
modest results.
Bindler and team believe all three levels of
intervention are critical in understanding and
preventing childhood obesity. “Multiple
causes, and consequently, multiple solutions are
required when looking at ways to combat childhood
and adolescent obesity. Interventions must
address dietary intake and patterns, physical
activities, sedentary behavior, and environmental
design,” said Bindler. “Children,
families, schools and communities are all part of
the solution. Furthermore, nurses, working with
professionals from many other disciplines, are at
the center of assessment to lower rates of child
and adolescent obesity and to lead to improved
health for youth.”
Sue Butkus, Ph.D., (WSU Extension), Tom Power,
Ph.D. (WSU Human Development), John Roll, Ph.D.
(Washington Institute for Mental Illness Research
and Training), Bob Lutz, M.D. (WSU Adjunct and
Empire Health Services Physician), Karen Cowan
(Spokane Public Schools) and Doug Wordell
(Spokane Public Schools) will serve as
co-investigators of the team. Additional
personnel serving on the project include Carolyn
Johnson, Ph.D. (WSU Exercise Physiology and
Metabolism) and Shirley Broughton (WSU
Extension).
Grant dollars are expected in March 2007 while
pre-planning for grant activities is currently
underway. Interventions will begin in Spokane
Public Schools fall 2007 and will continue for
three full academic years. The final post-testing
of study participants will occur fall 2010, and
all grant activities will be completed by
February 28, 2011.
About the WSU Intercollegiate College of
Nursing
The College of Nursing offers baccalaureate,
graduate and professional development course work
to nursing students enrolled in Spokane through
its four consortium partners, Eastern Washington
University, Gonzaga University, Washington State
University and Whitworth College. The same
programs are also offered in several communities
across the state including Yakima, Vancouver,
Tri-Cities and Walla Walla using WSU’s
Academic Media Services’ interactive video
system, as well as videoconferencing, video
streaming and web-based instruction.
About WSU Spokane
WSU Spokane is the urban campus of Washington
State University, a land-grant research
university founded in 1890. The campus features
advanced studies and research in health sciences
and health professions, the design disciplines,
education, social and policy sciences, and
science and technology. WSU is one of just 95
public and private research universities with
very high research activity, according to the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching classifications. In addition,
“U.S. News & World Report” ranks
WSU as one of the top public research
universities in the nation.
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