The goal of this proposed collaboration between the University of Minnesota and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi is to examine the applicability of materials and methods developed in the NHLBI-sponsored Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among school children in New Delhi, India. The CATCH program has been successful in changing dietary behaviors and physical activity patterns in eight to eleven year old children in a randomized trial of ninety six schools in four regions of the United States. Since cardiovascular diseases are a growing concern among adults in India with evidence that Indians may be particularly susceptible to cardiovascular diseases, the primary prevention of these diseases within young people in India is critical. The two years of this proposed FIRCA project will be divided into two phases. During the first phase materials and methods from the CATCH project would be adapted for use among Indian children. This will require pilot projects to obtain reliable dietary recall data and the merging of existing nutrition coding center methodology with a nutrition data base of Indian foods available at the National Institute of Nutrition in India. During Phase two these materials and methods would be tested in a field trial of fourth and fifth grade students in thirty elementary schools in New Delhi. The primary end points to be tested are evidence of a decrease in dietary fat and dietary sodium intake, and increase in servings of fresh fruits and vegetables and an increase in physical activity within the students to whom this educational program is applied. These children will be compared to a cohort of students followed over the same period but without the benefit of the materials or methods and program rewards.
| Reddy, K Srinath; Arora, Monika; Perry, Cheryl L et al. (2002) Tobacco and alcohol use outcomes of a school-based intervention in New Delhi. Am J Health Behav 26:173-81 |
