Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jun 26;13(6):e0198585.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198585. eCollection 2018.

Lessons learned and insights from the implementation of a food and physical activity policy to prevent obesity in Mexican schools: An analysis of nationally representative survey results

Florence L Théodore  1 , Jessica E Moreno-Saracho  1 , Anabelle Bonvecchio  1 , María Del Carmen Morales-Ruán  2 , Lizbeth Tolentino-Mayo  1 , Nancy López-Olmedo  1 , Teresa Shamah-Levy  2 , Juan A Rivera  1
Affiliations

Lessons learned and insights from the implementation of a food and physical activity policy to prevent obesity in Mexican schools: An analysis of nationally representative survey results

Florence L Théodore et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Obesity is a serious problem among children in Mexico. In 2010, the government implemented a national food and physical activity policy in elementary schools, to prevent obesity. The goal of this study is to assess the implementation of this policy, using the logic model from a descriptive survey with national representativeness at the elementary school level and based on a stratified cluster design. We used a systematic random sampling of schools (n = 122), stratified into public and private. We administered questionnaires to 116 principals, 165 members of the Food and Physical Activity Committees, 132 food school food vendors, 119 teachers, 348 parents. This study evidences a significant deviation in implementation from what had been planned. Our lessons learned are the importance to: base the design/implementation of the policy on a theoretical framework, make programs appealing to stakeholders, select concrete and measurable objective or goals, and support stakeholders during the implementation process.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Rivera J, Campos-Nonato I, Barquera S, Gónzalez de Cossio T. Epidemiología de la obesidad en México: magnitud distribución, tendencias y factores de riesgo In: Rivera J, Hernández M, Aguilar C, Vadillo F, C. M, editors. Obesidad en México Recomendaciones para una política de Estado. Ciudad de México: UNAM; 2012. p. 79–98.
    1. Bonvecchio A, Théodore F, Safdie M, Duque T, Villanueva M, Torres C, et al. Contribution of formative research to design an environmental program for obesity prevention in schools in Mexico City. Salud Pública Mex. 2014;56(2):S139–47. . - PubMed
    1. Safdie M, Lévesque L, González-Casanova I, Salvo D, Islas A, Hernández-Cordero S, et al. Promoting healthful diet and physical activity in the Mexican school system for the prevention of obesity in children. Salud Pública de México. 2013;55(3):S357–S73. - PubMed
    1. Jennings-Aburto N, Nava F, Bonvecchio A, Safdie M, Gonzalez-Casanova I, Gust T, et al. Physical activity during the school day in public primary schools in Mexico City. Salud Pública Mex. 2009;51(2):141–7. - PubMed
    1. World Health Organization. School policy framework: implementation of the WHO global strategy on diet, physical activity and health WHO, 2008.

Publication types