ACTION! Principal Investigator: Larry S. Webber, PhD
Co-Investigators: Carolyn Johnson, PhD, Janet Rice, PhD, Donald (Diego) Rose, PhD, MPH, RD ACTION! is a work-site intervention to promote increased physical activity behavior and healthier eating behavior to reduce overweight and obesity. The worksite staff selected for this project is elementary school personnel. The dramatic increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adults in the United States during the past two decades is related to increased cardiovascular disease, hyptertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. With 63.9% of working-age adults employed worksites are targets for prevention and intervention programs to control overweight and obesity. Worksite interventions have the potential to reach a large number of individuals in a common and shared environment. Subjects are employees of 20 elementary schools in Jefferson Parish Public Schools. Approximately 30 adult staff members per school will be recruited to participate in baseline measurements and followed for two years. The study will include about 600 adults, primarily White and African-American individuals 18 years of age and older from varied socioeconomic backgrounds. No children are included. Support for the project has been obtained from the Superintendent of Jefferson Parish Public Schools and from the Jefferson Federation of Teachers. This group-randomized trial involves 20 elementary schools in Jefferson Parish public schools. Schools will be the unit of randomization; 10 schools will be randomly allocated to implement the intervention and 10 schools will serve as controls. The primary aim of the program is to reduce mean body weight. Secondary aims relate to changes at both the individual level and the environmental level. The intervention will address the two major determinants of overweight and obesity: physical activity and diet. A School Wellness Committee at each site will be instrumental in identifying and implementing components of the intervention. | 
