Evaluation of teacher-level behaviors within an existing schoolbased childhood obesity prevention intervention

Over 50% of school-based childhood obesity interventions are implemented by classroom teachers, yet few have evaluated program impact on teachers administering them. Limited data indicate obesity rates among this profession exceed national estimates, which is alarming considering the strong link between obesity and cardiovascular disease. The main objective of this career development award is to support the PI’s development as an independently-funded investigator in the field of school wellness environments and multilevel obesity prevention interventions. The proposed study will examine teacher health behaviors (i.e., diet, PA, obesity) in the context of role modeling/classroom practices using a mixed methods evaluation and determine if a school-based childhood obesity prevention intervention (1) directly impacts teacher health behaviors and (2) impacts student health behaviors via a change in teacher health behaviors and/or role modeling/classroom practices.<br>