Prevalence of obesity among American Indian (AI) children is higher than
the general US population. The school environment and teachers play important
roles in helping students develop healthy eating habits. The aim of this
prospective study was to examine teachers’ classroom and school food
practices and beliefs and the effect of teacher training on these practices and
beliefs. Data were used from the Bright Start study, a group-randomized,
school-based trial on the Pine Ridge AI reservation (Fall 2005 to Spring 2008).
Kindergarten and first grade teachers (n=75) from 14 schools completed a
survey at the beginning and end of the school year. Thirty-seven survey items
were evaluated using mixed-model analysis of variance to examine the
intervention effect for each teacher-practice and belief item (adjusting for
teacher type and school as random effect). At baseline, some teachers reported
classroom and school food practices and beliefs that supported health and some
that did not.
The intervention was significantly associated with lower classroom use of
candy as a treat (p=0.0005) and fast food rewards (p=0.008);
more intervention teachers disagreed that fast food should be offered as school
lunch alternatives (p=0.019), that it would be acceptable to sell
unhealthy foods as part of school fund-raising (p=0.006), and that it
would not make sense to limit students’ food choices in school
(p=0.035). School-based interventions involving teacher training can
result in positive changes in teachers’ classroom food practices and
beliefs about the influence of the school food environment in schools serving AI
children on reservations.