| The U.S. Surgeon General identified television use and physical inactivity as two behaviors that potentially contribute to the increase in obesity during adolescents. The goal of this research project was to develop an intervention program to reduce media use and subsequently increase leisure time physical activity in adolescents. Thus, the three papers of this dissertation delineate the development of an integrated curriculum to reduce media use and increase physical activity in adolescents. The initial paper Understanding Youth Obesity and Media Use: Implications for Future Intervention Programs reviews current research and synthesizes recommendations for future school-based intervention programs.; The second paper Reducing Media Use Through a Media Literacy Approach to Health Education was an integrated intervention program to reduce media use and increase physical activity in adolescents. Baseline, post-intervention, and 3-week follow-up data produced nonsignificant Group x Time interactions for changes in Media Use and Physical Activity. However, groups receiving intervention Health had an average reduction in media use of 7.15 hours per week compared to a reduction of 1.85 hours per week in traditional Health groups.; The final paper Integrated Health and Physical Education Curriculum to Reduce Media Use and Increase Physical Activity in Adolescents was the result of recommendations generated from the second paper. The purpose of this project was to compare a theory-based, integrated health and physical education curriculum, designed to reduce media use and to increase physical activity in adolescents, to traditional and nonintegrated health and physical education curricula. There was no difference in the change in media use between students in the intervention and control schools (-18.3% hrs/wk vs. -10.3% hrs/wk, p = 0.112). However, the intervention school did significantly reduce media use from pre- to postintervention (t = 3.55, df = 55, p = 0.001). In addition, the intervention school had a greater increase in step counts than the control school (+1783 steps/day vs. -615 steps/day, p = 0.030). Our results suggest that a media literacy approach to health education combined with a student-centered approach to physical education can produce a reduction in media use with a subsequent increase in physical activity in adolescents. |
