The SI! Program for Cardiovascular Health Promotion in Early Childhood

Implementation of a Nationwide Strategy for the Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Disease "A Todo Corazón"

The cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have a growing impact over the world mortality, affecting mostly low and middle-income countries. This is due to changes in the population pyramid and the increase in unhealthy lifestyles that predispose the global population to cardiovascular risk factors such as overweight, obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemias and metabolic syndrome. Ischemic heart disease and the cerebral vascular event remain the first causes of death reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) for more than a decade. Mexico has high prevalence in obesity, overweight, hypertension and diabetes in the population over 20 years old; Within the OECD countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) are the country with the highest mortality due to acute myocardial infarction over 45 years in the first 30 days. In order to face the growing pandemic of CVDs, the IMSS, it has developed and implemented a comprehensive care program called "A Todo Corazon", it is the first program of integral care which seeks to strengthen the actions to improving the impact of CVDs from health. This review is focused on describing the 7 axes that make up the program; each axe is described in detail. Axes one to three are dedicated to promotion and primary prevention of CVDs. Axes 4 and 5 are dedicated to infarction code, as a national strategy to confront the principal cause of death in Mexico. Finally axes 6 and 7 are dedicated to intensive care, secondary prevention and rehabilitation of CVDs.

Children Present a Window of Opportunity for Promoting Health: JACC Review Topic of the Week

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the world, largely because of risk factors modifiable by changes in behavior. There is evolving evidence that our behavior as adults has its roots in the environment that we live in from early childhood. Early sustained multicomponent educational programs focused on health promotion in children may represent a window of opportunity to potentially prevent disease in adulthood. The integration of school-based, family-based, and community-based strategies, along with the support of public policies, are likely necessary for the success of these programs. In this review, the authors describe the future of promoting health. Specifically: 1) reasons why children should be a focus for health promotion (alarming trends of risk factors, association between unhealthy factors and subclinical disease, and cost-effectiveness); 2) strategies for health promotion in children (school-based, family-based, and community-based approaches) along with legislative efforts; and 3) research gaps are discussed.

Interventions for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under

BACKGROUND

Insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables in childhood increases the risk of future non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Interventions to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables, such as those focused on specific child-feeding strategies and parent nutrition education interventions in early childhood may therefore be an effective strategy in reducing this disease burden.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness, cost effectiveness and associated adverse events of interventions designed to increase the consumption of fruit, vegetables or both amongst children aged five years and under.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase and two clinical trials registries to identify eligible trials on 25 January 2018. We searched Proquest Dissertations and Theses in November 2017. We reviewed reference lists of included trials and handsearched three international nutrition journals. We contacted authors of included studies to identify further potentially relevant trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials, including cluster-randomised controlled trials and cross-over trials, of any intervention primarily targeting consumption of fruit, vegetables or both among children aged five years and under, and incorporating a dietary or biochemical assessment of fruit or vegetable consumption. Two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts of identified papers; a third review author resolved disagreements.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risks of bias of included studies; a third review author resolved disagreements. Due to unexplained heterogeneity, we used random-effects models in meta-analyses for the primary review outcomes where we identified sufficient trials. We calculated standardised mean differences (SMDs) to account for the heterogeneity of fruit and vegetable consumption measures. We conducted assessments of risks of bias and evaluated the quality of evidence (GRADE approach) using Cochrane procedures.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 63 trials with 178 trial arms and 11,698 participants. Thirty-nine trials examined the impact of child-feeding practices (e.g. repeated food exposure) in increasing child vegetable intake. Fourteen trials examined the impact of parent nutrition education in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. Nine studies examined the impact of multicomponent interventions (e.g. parent nutrition education and preschool policy changes) in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. One study examined the effect of a nutrition education intervention delivered to children in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake.We judged 14 of the 63 included trials as free from high risks of bias across all domains; performance, detection and attrition bias were the most common domains judged at high risk of bias for the remaining studies.There is very low quality evidence that child-feeding practices versus no intervention may have a small positive effect on child vegetable consumption equivalent to an increase of 3.50 g as-desired consumption of vegetables (SMD 0.33, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.54; participants = 1741; studies = 13). Multicomponent interventions versus no intervention may have a very small effect on child consumption of fruit and vegetables (SMD 0.35, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.66; participants = 2009; studies = 5; low-quality evidence), equivalent to an increase of 0.37 cups of fruit and vegetables per day. It is uncertain whether there are any short-term differences in child consumption of fruit and vegetables in meta-analyses of trials examining parent nutrition education versus no intervention (SMD 0.12, 95% CI -0.03 to 0.28; participants = 3078; studies = 11; very low-quality evidence).Insufficient data were available to assess long-term effectiveness, cost effectiveness and unintended adverse consequences of interventions. Studies reported receiving governmental or charitable funds, except for four studies reporting industry funding.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Despite identifying 63 eligible trials of various intervention approaches, the evidence for how to increase children's fruit and vegetable consumption remains limited. There was very low- and low-quality evidence respectively that child-feeding practice and multicomponent interventions may lead to very small increases in fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and younger. It is uncertain whether parent nutrition education interventions are effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and younger. Given that the quality of the evidence is very low or low, future research will likely change estimates and conclusions. Long-term follow-up is required and future research should adopt more rigorous methods to advance the field.This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review.

Interventions for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under

BACKGROUND

Insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables in childhood increases the risk of future chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness, cost effectiveness and associated adverse events of interventions designed to increase the consumption of fruit, vegetables or both amongst children aged five years and under.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and Embase to identify eligible trials on 25 September 2017. We searched Proquest Dissertations and Theses and two clinical trial registers in November 2017. We reviewed reference lists of included trials and handsearched three international nutrition journals. We contacted authors of included studies to identify further potentially relevant trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials, including cluster-randomised controlled trials and cross-over trials, of any intervention primarily targeting consumption of fruit, vegetables or both among children aged five years and under, and incorporating a dietary or biochemical assessment of fruit or vegetable consumption. Two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts of identified papers; a third review author resolved disagreements.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risks of bias of included studies; a third review author resolved disagreements. Due to unexplained heterogeneity, we used random-effects models in meta-analyses for the primary review outcomes where we identified sufficient trials. We calculated standardised mean differences (SMDs) to account for the heterogeneity of fruit and vegetable consumption measures. We conducted assessments of risks of bias and evaluated the quality of evidence (GRADE approach) using Cochrane procedures.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 55 trials with 154 trial arms and 11,108 participants. Thirty-three trials examined the impact of child-feeding practices (e.g. repeated food exposure) in increasing child vegetable intake. Thirteen trials examined the impact of parent nutrition education in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. Eight studies examined the impact of multicomponent interventions (e.g. parent nutrition education and preschool policy changes) in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. One study examined the effect of a nutrition intervention delivered to children in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake.We judged 14 of the 55 included trials as free from high risks of bias across all domains; performance, detection and attrition bias were the most common domains judged at high risk of bias for the remaining studies.Meta-analysis of trials examining child-feeding practices versus no intervention revealed a positive effect on child vegetable consumption (SMD 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.15 to 0.61; n = 1509; 11 studies; very low-quality evidence), equivalent to a mean difference of 4.03 g of vegetables. There were no short-term differences in child consumption of fruit and vegetables in meta-analyses of trials examining parent nutrition education versus no intervention (SMD 0.11, 95% CI -0.05 to 0.28; n = 3023; 10 studies; very low-quality evidence) or multicomponent interventions versus no intervention (SMD 0.28, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.63; n = 1861; 4 studies; very low-quality evidence).Insufficient data were available to assess long-term effectiveness, cost effectiveness and unintended adverse consequences of interventions. Studies reported receiving governmental or charitable funds, except for three studies reporting industry funding.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Despite identifying 55 eligible trials of various intervention approaches, the evidence for how to increase children's fruit and vegetable consumption remains sparse. There was very low-quality evidence that child-feeding practice interventions are effective in increasing vegetable consumption in children aged five years and younger, however the effect size was very small and long-term follow-up is required. There was very low-quality evidence that parent nutrition education and multicomponent interventions are not effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and younger. All findings should be considered with caution, given most included trials could not be combined in meta-analyses. Given the very low-quality evidence, future research will very likely change estimates and conclusions. Such research should adopt more rigorous methods to advance the field.This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review.

Association Between a Healthy Lifestyle Score and the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in the SUN Cohort

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

A healthy lifestyle (HLS) is essential to attaining optimal cardiovascular health. Our objective was to assess the association between a HLS score and the incidence of hard cardiovascular disease (CVD) events.

METHODS

The SUN project is a dynamic, prospective, multipurpose cohort of Spanish university graduates with a retention proportion of 92%. In 19 336 participants, we calculated a HLS score ranging from 0 to 10 points: never smoking, physical activity (> 20 METs-h/wk), Mediterranean diet adherence (≥ 4/8 points), low body mass index (≤ 22), moderate alcohol intake (women, 0.1-5g/d; men, 0.1-10g/d), low television exposure (≤ 2h/d), no binge drinking (≤ 5 alcoholic drinks anytime), taking a short afternoon nap (< 30min/d), meeting up with friends> 1h/d and working> 40h/wk.

RESULTS

After a median follow-up of 10.4 years, we identified 140 incident cases of CVD. After adjustment for potential confounders, the highest category of HLS score adherence (7-10 points) showed a significant 78% relative reduction in the risk of primary CVD compared with the lowest category (0-3 points) (adjusted HR, 0.22; 95%CI, 0.11-0.46). Each healthy habit was individually associated with a lower risk of CVD.

CONCLUSIONS

A HLS score including several simple healthy habits was associated with a lower risk of developing primary CVD. This index may be useful to reinforce CVD prevention without the need to include traditional risk factors.

Interventions for increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in children aged five years and under

BACKGROUND

Insufficient consumption of fruits and vegetables in childhood increases the risk of future chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effectiveness, cost effectiveness and associated adverse events of interventions designed to increase the consumption of fruit, vegetables or both amongst children aged five years and under.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, Embase Classic and Embase to identify eligible trials on 30 September 2016. We searched CINAHL and PsycINFO in July 2016, Proquest Dissertations and Theses in November 2016 and three clinical trial registers in November 2016 and June 2017. We reviewed reference lists of included trials and handsearched three international nutrition journals. We contacted authors of included studies to identify further potentially relevant trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included randomised controlled trials, including cluster-randomised controlled trials and cross-over trials, of any intervention primarily targeting consumption of fruit, vegetables or both among children aged five years and under, and incorporating a dietary or biochemical assessment of fruit or vegetable consumption. Two review authors independently screened titles and abstracts of identified papers; a third review author resolved disagreements.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risks of bias of included studies; a third review author resolved disagreements. Due to unexplained heterogeneity, we used random-effects models in meta-analyses for the primary review outcomes where we identified sufficient trials. We calculated standardised mean differences (SMDs) to account for the heterogeneity of fruit and vegetable consumption measures.We conducted assessments of risks of bias and evaluated the quality of evidence (GRADE approach) using Cochrane procedures.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 50 trials with 137 trial arms and 10,267 participants. Thirty trials examined the impact of child-feeding practices (e.g. repeated food exposure) in increasing child vegetable intake. Eleven trials examined the impact of parent nutrition education in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. Eight studies examined the impact of multicomponent interventions (e.g. parent nutrition education and preschool policy changes) in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake. One study examined the effect of a nutrition intervention delivered to children in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake.Thirteen of the 50 included trials were judged as free from high risks of bias across all domains; performance, detection and attrition bias were the most common domains judged at high risk of bias of remaining studies.Meta-analysis of trials examining child-feeding practices versus no intervention revealed a positive effect on child vegetable consumption (SMD 0.38, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.61; n = 1509; 11 studies; very low-quality evidence), equivalent to a mean difference of 4.03 grams of vegetables. There were no short-term differences in child consumption of fruit and vegetables in meta-analyses of trials examining parent nutrition education versus no intervention (SMD 0.11, 95% CI -0.05 to 0.28; n = 3023; 10 studies; very low-quality evidence) or multicomponent interventions versus no intervention (SMD 0.28, 95% CI -0.06 to 0.63; n = 1861; 4 studies; very low-quality evidence).Insufficient data were available to assess long-term effectiveness, cost effectiveness and unintended adverse consequences of interventions.Studies reported receiving governmental or charitable funds, except for two studies reporting industry funding.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Despite identifying 50 eligible trials of various intervention approaches, the evidence for how to increase fruit and vegetable consumption of children remains sparse. There was very low-quality evidence child-feeding practice interventions are effective in increasing vegetable consumption of children aged five years and younger, however the effect size was very small and long-term follow-up is required. There was very low-quality evidence that parent nutrition education and multicomponent interventions are not effective in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption of children aged five years and younger. All findings should be considered with caution, given most included trials could not be combined in meta-analyses. Given the very low-quality evidence, future research will very likely change estimates and conclusions. Such research should adopt more rigorous methods to advance the field.This is a living systematic review. Living systematic reviews offer a new approach to review updating, in which the review is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available. Please refer to the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the current status of this review.

Rationale and Design of Family-Based Approach in a Minority Community Integrating Systems-Biology for Promotion of Health (FAMILIA)

BACKGROUND

The 2020 American Heart Association Impact Goal aims to improve cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20%. A large step toward this goal would be to better understand and take advantage of the significant intersection between behavior and biology across the entire life-span. In the proposed FAMILIA studies, we aim to directly address this major knowledge and clinical health gap by implementing an integrated family-centric health promotion intervention and focusing on the intersection of environment and behavior, while understanding the genetic and biologic basis of cardiovascular disease.

METHODS

We plan to recruit 600 preschool children and their 600 parents or caregivers from 12-15 Head Start schools in Harlem, NY, and perform a 2:1 (2 intervention/1 control) cluster randomization of the schools. The preschool children will receive our intensive 37-hour educational program as the intervention for 4 months. For the adults, those in the "intervention" group will be randomly assigned to 1 of 2 intervention programs: an "individual-focused" or "peer-to-peer based." The primary outcome in children will be a composite score of knowledge (K), attitudes (A), habits (H), related to body mass index Z score (B), exercise (E), and alimentation (A) (KAH-BEA), using questionnaires and anthropometric measurements. For adults, the primary outcome will be a composite score for behaviors/outcomes related to blood pressure, exercise, weight, alimentation (diet) and tobacco (smoking; Fuster-BEWAT score). Saliva will be collected from the children for SNP genotyping, and blood will be collected from adults for RNA sequencing to identify network models and predictors of primary prevention outcomes.

CONCLUSION

The FAMILIA studies seek to demonstrate that targeting a younger age group (3-5 years) and using a family-based approach may be a critical strategy in promoting cardiovascular health across the life-span.

[Improving diet quality in children through a new nutritional education programme: INFADIMED]

OBJECTIVE

To assess the results of a nutritional education programme developed by using available local resources to improve diet quality and decrease overweight and obesity prevalence among children.

METHOD

A longitudinal intervention study by means of nutritional education (INFADIMED) in children (aged 3-7 years) from Vilafranca del Penedès (Barcelona, Spain), recruited from preschool centres and primary schools, with an intervention or INFADIMED group (n=319; 50.2% female) and a control group (n=880; 49.8% female). Weight, height and body mass index were measured in both groups at the beginning and at the end of the programme. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was also assessed using the KIDMED test.

RESULTS

Consumption of fruit or juices, vegetables, yogurt and/or cheese, pasta or rice, and nuts increased, while skipping breakfast, consumption of bakery products for breakfast, and/or consumption of sweets several times per day decreased in the INFADIMED group. INFADIMED also changed, from the beginning to the end of the study, the adherence to a Mediterranean diet: high (39.2% to 70.5%), acceptable (49.2% to 28.2%), and low (11.6% to 1.3%). Approximately 2.6% of the participants in the control group and 11.3% of the participants in the INFADIMED group who were overweight and obese changed to normal weight (odds ratio: 4.08; 95% confidence interval: 2.37-7.04).

CONCLUSIONS

INFADIMED is a nutritional education programme with benefits on both diet quality and overweight and obesity prevalence among children.

School and family-based interventions for promoting a healthy lifestyle among children and adolescents in Italy: a systematic review

AIMS

Cardiovascular diseases affect adult population but risk factors develop as a result of known or assumed behavior since childhood. In Italy, up to 22.2% of children are overweight, 10.6% are obese, and 2.5% have severe obesity.

METHODS

We performed a systematic review of the literature to identify studies and initiatives addressing health promotion among children in Italy. Given the high heterogeneity of interventions and outcomes assessed we opted to perform a qualitative synthesis of the results. We described also nonrandomized trial where the intervention of primary prevention was very innovative, explained in detail, and reached an improving outcome for participants.

RESULTS

We identified 11 projects since 1983, only five were randomized control trials. Three involved children and teachers of primary and secondary schools and were based on specific curricular lectures about health. One was based on a game developed for high schools with the purpose to promote healthy lifestyle and physical activity. The fifth project was based on an enhanced physical activity program.

CONCLUSION

Our results show that school and family should be considered as the privileged places for health promotion. In Italy, the development of scientific-validated lifestyle interventions for children is still an unmet need.

Genetic Obesity and the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation: Causal Estimates from Mendelian Randomization

BACKGROUND

Observational studies have identified an association between body mass index (BMI) and incident atrial fibrillation (AF). Inferring causality from observational studies, however, is subject to residual confounding, reverse causation, and bias. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the causal association between BMI and AF by using genetic predictors of BMI.

METHODS

We identified 51 646 individuals of European ancestry without AF at baseline from 7 prospective population-based cohorts initiated between 1987 and 2002 in the United States, Iceland, and the Netherlands with incident AF ascertained between 1987 and 2012. Cohort-specific mean follow-up ranged from 7.4 to 19.2 years, over which period there was a total of 4178 cases of incident AF. We performed a Mendelian randomization with instrumental variable analysis to estimate a cohort-specific causal hazard ratio for the association between BMI and AF. Two genetic instruments for BMI were used: FTO genotype (rs1558902) and a BMI gene score comprising 39 single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified by genome-wide association studies to be associated with BMI. Cohort-specific estimates were combined by random-effects, inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis.

RESULTS

In age- and sex-adjusted meta-analysis, both genetic instruments were significantly associated with BMI (FTO: 0.43 [95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.54] kg/m2 per A-allele, P<0.001; BMI gene score: 1.05 [95% confidence interval, 0.90-1.20] kg/m2 per 1-U increase, P<0.001) and incident AF (FTO, hazard ratio, 1.07 [1.02-1.11] per A-allele, P=0.004; BMI gene score, hazard ratio, 1.11 [1.05-1.18] per 1-U increase, P<0.001). Age- and sex-adjusted instrumental variable estimates for the causal association between BMI and incident AF were hazard ratio, 1.15 (1.04-1.26) per kg/m2, P=0.005 (FTO) and 1.11 (1.05-1.17) per kg/m2, P<0.001 (BMI gene score). Both of these estimates were consistent with the meta-analyzed estimate between observed BMI and AF (age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratio 1.05 [1.04-1.06] per kg/m2, P<0.001). Multivariable adjustment did not significantly change findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data are consistent with a causal relationship between BMI and incident AF. These data support the possibility that public health initiatives targeting primordial prevention of obesity may reduce the incidence of AF.

Strength of obesity prevention interventions in early care and education settings: A systematic review

2010-2015; INTERNATIONAL: Given the high levels of obesity in young children, numbers of children in out-of-home care, and data suggesting a link between early care and education (ECE) participation and overweight/obesity, obesity prevention in ECE settings is critical. As the field has progressed, a number of interventions have been reviewed yet there is a need to summarize the data using more sophisticated analyses to answer questions on the effectiveness of interventions. We conducted a systematic review of obesity prevention interventions in center-based ECE settings published between 2010 and 2015. Our goal was to identify promising intervention characteristics associated with successful behavioral and anthropometric outcomes. A rigorous search strategy resulted in 43 interventions that met inclusion criteria. We developed a coding strategy to assess intervention strength, used a validated study quality assessment tool, and presented detailed descriptive information about interventions (e.g., target behaviors, intervention strategies, and mode of delivery). Intervention strength was positively correlated with reporting of positive anthropometric outcomes for physical activity, diet, and combined interventions, and parent engagement components increased the strength of these relationships. Study quality was modestly related to percent successful healthy eating outcomes. Relationships between intervention strength and behavioral outcomes demonstrated negative relationships for all behavioral outcomes. Specific components of intervention strength (number of intervention strategies, potential impact of strategies, frequency of use, and duration of intervention) were correlated with some of the anthropometric and parent engagement outcomes. The review provided tentative evidence that multi-component, multi-level ECE interventions with parental engagement are most likely to be effective with anthropometric outcomes.

Editor-in-Chief's Top Picks From 2015: Part One

Each week, I record audio summaries for every article in JACC, as well as an issue summary. While this process has been time-consuming, I have become very familiar with every paper that we publish. Thus, I have personally selected the papers (both original investigations and review articles) from 13 distinct specialties for your review. In addition to my personal choices, I have included manuscripts that have been the most accessed or downloaded on our websites, as well as those selected by the JACC Editorial Board members. There are approximately 130 articles selected across this 2-part series, which represent less than 3% of the papers submitted to the Journal in 2015. In order to present the full breadth of this important research in a consumable fashion, we will present these manuscripts over the course of 2 issues in JACC. Part One includes the sections: Congenital Heart Disease, Coronary Disease & Interventions, CVD Prevention & Health Promotion, Cardiac Failure, Cardiomyopathies, Genetics, Omics, & Tissue Regeneration, and Hypertension (1-60). Part Two includes the sections: Imaging, Metabolic Disorders & Lipids, Rhythm Disorders, Statistics, Valvular Heart Disease, and Vascular Medicine.

A Comprehensive Lifestyle Peer Group-Based Intervention on Cardiovascular Risk Factors: The Randomized Controlled Fifty-Fifty Program

BACKGROUND

Cardiovascular diseases stem from modifiable risk factors. Peer support is a proven strategy for many chronic illnesses. Randomized trials assessing the efficacy of this strategy for global cardiovascular risk factor modification are lacking.

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed the hypothesis that a peer group strategy would help improve healthy behaviors in individuals with cardiovascular risk factors.

METHODS

A total of 543 adults 25 to 50 years of age with at least 1 risk factor were recruited; risk factors included hypertension (20%), overweight (82%), smoking (31%), and physical inactivity (81%). Subjects were randomized 1:1 to a peer group-based intervention group (IG) or a self-management control group (CG) for 12 months. Peer-elected leaders moderated monthly meetings involving role-play, brainstorming, and activities to address emotions, diet, and exercise. The primary outcome was mean change in a composite score related to blood pressure, exercise, weight, alimentation, and tobacco (Fuster-BEWAT score, 0 to 15). Multilevel models with municipality as a cluster variable were applied to assess differences between groups.

RESULTS

Participants' mean age was 42 ± 6 years, 71% were female, and they had a mean baseline Fuster-BEWAT score of 8.42 ± 2.35. After 1 year, the mean scores were significantly higher in the IG (n = 277) than in the CG (n = 266) (IG mean score: 8.84; 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.37 to 9.32; CG mean score: 8.17; 95% CI: 7.55 to 8.79; p = 0.02). The increase in the overall score was significantly larger in the IG compared with the CG (difference: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.32 to 1.18; p = 0.02). The mean improvement in the individual components was uniformly greater in the IG, with a significant difference for the tobacco component.

CONCLUSIONS

The peer group intervention had beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors, with significant improvements in the overall score and specifically on tobacco cessation. A follow-up assessment will be performed 1 year after the final assessment reported here to determine long-term sustainability of the improvements associated with peer group intervention. (Peer-Group-Based Intervention Program [Fifty-Fifty]; NCT02367963).

Development and validation of a questionnaire to evaluate lifestyle-related behaviors in elementary school children

Background

The SI! Program promotes cardiovascular health through a multilevel school-based intervention on four lifestyle-related components: diet, physical activity, understanding the body and heart, and management of emotions. We report here the development and validation of the KAH (knowledge, attitudes and habits)-questionnaire adapted for elementary school children (6–7 years old) as a tool for the forthcoming evaluation of the SI! Program, where the KAH scoring will be the primary outcome. The efficacy of such an intervention will be based on the improvements in children’s KAH towards a healthy lifestyle.

Methods

The questionnaire validation process started with a pool of items proposed by the pedagogical team who developed the SI! Program for elementary school. The questionnaire was finalized by decreasing the number of items from 155 to 48 using expert panels and statistical tests on the responses from 384 children (ages 6–7). A team of specialized psychologists administered the questionnaire at schools providing standard directions for the final administration. The internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficients. Reliability was measured through the split-half method, and problematic items were detected applying the item response theory. Analysis of variance and Tukey’s test of additivity were used for multiple comparisons.

Results

The final KAH-questionnaire for elementary school children should be administered to children individually by trained staff. The 48 items-questionnaire is divided evenly between the 4 components of the intervention, with an overall Cronbach’s α = 0.791 (α = 0.526 for diet, α = 0.537 for physical activity, α = 0.523 for human body and heart, and α = 0.537 for management of emotions).

Conclusions

The KAH-questionnaire is a reliable instrument to assess the efficacy of the SI! Program on instilling healthy lifestyle-related behaviors in elementary school children.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2248-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.