Efficacy of a School-Based Healthy Life Program in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based healthy life program, and a pretest-posttest control group design was used. Five hundred and thirty-seven students formed the intervention group and 568 students formed the control group in 4 elementary schools. Both the control and intervention groups were tested for their knowledge levels before and after the training, and their body mass indexes (BMIs) and blood pressures were measured. The results show that the intervention group's self-reported daily exercise duration increased at the end of the training. This study provides evidence for the benefits of using school-based healthy life programs beginning in elementary school.