Evaluation of the Impact of the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) Healthy Lifestyles Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, Nutririon (TEEN) Program in a Rural High School Health Class

Ritchie, Teresa Dawn

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Teresa Dawn Ritchie, MSN, APRN
School of Nursing, West Virginia University, Charleston, WV

Learning Objective 1: discuss the impact COPE Healthy Lifestyles TEEN intervention had on 9th graders in a rural high school health class.

Learning Objective 2: describe the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral skills building sessions combines with 20 minutes of physical activity and parent education in weight loss among overweight teens.

Background: Worldwide, approximately 43 million children under the age of 5 years are overweight. In 2007-2008, 31.7% of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years were at or above the 85^th percentile placing them in the overweight category, while 16.9% were obese with a BMI percentile at or above the 95^th percentile. In 2009, 31% of students in grades 9-12 in West Virginia were overweight or obese. Current interventions to prevent or treat obesity are not impacting the weight status of adolescents.

Design: This study used a before and after design. Cognitive behavior skills building sessions were incorporated into the 9^th grade health class curriculum and included 30 minutes of education once a week, combined with 20 minutes of physical activity and a parent educational component. Pre- and post-intervention measurements included: weight, BMI, BMI percent, self-esteem, healthy lifestyles teen and parent questionnaires measuring behavior, beliefs, and perceived difficulty in engaging in a healthy lifestyle and five open-ended exit questions about the helpfulness of the program.

Subjects: Fifty-five students began the program and forty-nine (89%) completed the 15 week program. All students were enrolled in the 9^th grade health class with a mean age of 14.76 years.

Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the teen healthy lifestyles behavior scores from Time 1 (M=51.32, SD=11.15) to Time 2 (M=57.45, SD=9.71) p=.000 (two-tailed). Weight, BMI, BMI percents, self-esteem, and healthy lifestyle beliefs and perceived difficulty in teens and parents all improved. Overall, the teens liked the program and found it was helpful in making healthy choices.

Conclusion: The Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) Healthy lifestyles Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, and Nutrition (TEEN) intervention is an effective strategy in improving healthy lifestyles and weight management among teens, and can be incorporated in a high school health class.

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