Mark, Set, Go! School-Based Nutrition and Physical Activity Program: A Five-Year Evaluation.

Mark, Set Go! is a school-based intervention addressing pediatric obesity in an urban, underserved community. This study evaluates its impact on participants' knowledge, attitudes and behavior related to nutrition, physical activity and screen time.

METHOD: Participants, 954 fifth- and sixth-grade public school students, received a 9-week classroom-based intervention led by high school peer educators. A matched design analyzed paired data from pre/post intervention knowledge, attitude and behavior surveys, heights, weights and 24 hour pedometer recordings.

RESULTS: 787 students (82.4%) completed both a pre- and post-test. Participants demonstrated improvement in knowledge, self-reported screen time, daily exercise and sweetened beverage consumption. Changes were greater for girls. A statistically significant decrease in BMI was noted overall, for boys and for overweight students, among the 443 participants (46%) with paired BMI data.

CONCLUSIONS: This school-based peer educator led intervention was effective in improving participant knowledge and healthy behaviors. [Full article available at https://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-02.asp].