OVERVIEW

The Stanford Adolescent Heart Health Program is a high school-based program designed to improve the health and health behaviors of teenagers. The curriculum addresses physical activity, nutrition, smoking, and stress. An experimental evaluation of the program showed that participants experienced more positive exercising and snacking behaviors, and had more healthy average heart rates, than students who were not in the program.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: High school students

The Stanford Adolescent Heart Health Program was a school-based program designed to improve the health and health behaviors of teenagers. The curriculum consists of 20, 50-minute classroom sessions that cover physical activity, nutrition, smoking, and stress. The curriculum emphasized information on the immediate consequences as well as the long-term benefits of healthy behaviors, trained students in self-regulatory skills and problem solving, and incorporated development of an action plan designed to reach an individually chosen behavior change goal.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Evaluated population: Data was collected from 1,130 10th grade students at baseline and follow-up. This group was between 14 and 16 years old, and was 69% white, 2% black, 13.1% Asian, 6.4% Latino, and 9.6% other.

Four northern California high schools were randomized to intervention or control groups (Killen, et al., 1989). By two months after the intervention, 30.2% of students in the treatment group who had not been exercising regularly at baseline had become regular exercisers, compared with 20.0% in the control group. The program was also associated with improvements in heart rate. Adolescent boys and girls in the treatment group showed a decrease in average heart rate of 2.3 and 4.1 beats per minute, respectively, while the average heart rate among all controls increased very slightly. Finally, students in the treatment group were also more likely than were students in the control group to report that they would select healthy foods for snacks.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References:

Killen, J.D., Robinson, T.N., Telch, M.J., Saylor, K.E., Maron, D.J., Rich, T., et al. (1989). The Stanford Adolescent Heart Health Program. Health Education Quarterly, 16(2), 263-283.

Links to discussions of this program in Child Trends publications

Hatcher, J. L. & Scarpa, J. (2001). Background for community-level work on physical health and safety in adolescence: Reviewing the literature on contributing factors. Washington, DC, Child Trends.

Hatcher, J. L., & Scarpa, J. (2002). Encouraging teens to adopt a safe, healthy lifestyle: A foundation for improving future adult behaviors (Research brief).  Washington , DC : Child Trends.

SUMMARY & CATEGORIZATION

Program categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: 14-16 / Program age ranges in the Guide: 12-14, 15-21 

Program components: School-based

Measured outcomes: Physical health

Program information last updated 12/31/01.

© Child Trends 2003