A multidisciplinary school health advisory committee was developed to enhance acceptance and support for a total elementary school cardiovascular health promotion program (Heart Smart). Composed of teachers, school lunch personnel, physical educators and parents, this coalition served as a liaison between the school and project investigators, providing feedback on program acceptability. As an environmental support mechanism to the Heart Smart intervention, the group was additionally charged with designing and implementing adjunct health promotion activities within the school. The interactive nature of this committee, coupled with self-directed goal setting, provides a school model for institutionalizing health promotion, providing school personnel and parents with program ownership, and reinforcing school commitment to heart health. The theoretical and organizational framework used in implementing a health advisory committee is described.

The importance of health promotion is recognized throughout the nation. The Surgeon General's report of 1980, Promoting Health/Preventing Disease, delineates objectives for intervention in 15 health priority areas. Approximately one-third of the objectives relate directly to the health of children, and many are addressed by a comprehensive cardiovascular (CV) health promotion program for elementary school children--Heart Smart. Priority areas addressed by this program are high blood pressure control, nutrition, fluoridation and dental health, smoking, misuse of alcohol and drugs, physical fitness and exercise, and control of stress and violence. Heart Smart is a cognitive behavioral intervention designed to address health enabling and reinforcing factors within the school environment. It is based on data from the Bogalusa Heart Study which clearly document the need for CV health intervention beginning early in life. Heart Smart includes a longitudinal classroom curriculum, an aerobic fitness program taught within physical education classes, a school lunch program offering CV healthy foods, and a teacher staff development program. The goal is to reduce CV risk factors in children. With health-enhancing behavior change of the students, family, and elementary school staff, objectives for CV risk reduction in our nation can be achieved.

The purposes of this study were to determine if three medically diagnosed hyperactive males could be taught to relax using a modified version of Behavioral Relaxation Training (BRT), as confirmed by frontalis electromyographic (EMG) data and by Poppen’s Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS), and to determine if a relaxed state is more optimal for performing attention-demanding motor tasks. After obtaining baseline data for relaxation and reaction/response time variables, subjects received six to eight sessions of BRT, followed by posttesting and a 1-month follow-up. Results indicated large reductions in BRS scores, EMG reductions in two of the three subjects, and reductions in reaction/response time. The results supported the use of relaxation training for facilitating information processing.

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