PILOT -- CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE RESEARCH

San Diego State University, San Diego CA

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The Healthy Start pilot project is designed to determine the feasibility of implementing the enhanced health curriculum in Head Start Centers serving predominantly Mexican-American preschoolers and their families. The presence of health disparities in this target community is well-established. As in many communities, the health disparities are apparent for disease prevalence, as well as primary and secondary prevention efforts. Healthy Start curriculum addresses several health-related behaviors, with a focus on dietary behavior and physical activity. The link between these modifiable behaviors and cardiovascular diseases (including hypertension) and diabetes, make them excellent choices for the introduction of primary prevention to families of preschoolers in this community. The specific aims of the Healthy Start pilot are to determine the following: 1. Can Head Start teachers successfully integrate a physical, emotional, and social health curricula in their classrooms? 2. What are classroom, teacher and parental factors that contribute to the adoption of this enhanced health curriculum? 3. Are there barriers related to teacher training and parent involvement that prevent a child from benefiting from enhanced health curriculum? 4. Is there preliminary evidence that this curriculum will contribute to improved health awareness of preschoolers and their parents? If we determine in the pilot project that Healthy Start can be successfully implemented in these sites, additional funding will be sought to conduct an intervention-controlled trial to determine if children in intervention sites demonstrate statistically significant improvements on dietary and physical activity indictors. Adoption of improved dietary and physical activity behaviors will help reduce health disparities in this Mexican-American Community.