METHODS
Study Population and Design The study population for these analyses included 103 children (78 females, 25 males) in fourth to sixth grade (ages 9-12) from 4 urban elementary schools
in St. Paul, Minnesota, serving primarily low-income populations who participated in an evaluation of the Ready. Set. ACTION! (RSA) program, a theater-based intervention aimed at obesity prevention.13 The present investigation utilizes baseline data collected prior to the intervention. Approximately 90% of the students at each school qualify for free or reduced
school lunch.14 Nearly, all (102 of the 103 participants) consumed the school lunch provided by the NSLP while a smaller proportion (61 of the 103 participants) consumed school breakfast. The mean (SD) age of the male and female children included in these analyses was 10.5 (1.1) and 10.2 (1.1) years, respectively. The child self-reported ethnic distribution was as follows: African-American 53% (n = 55), Asian/Hmong 12% 488 (n = 12), White 8% (n = 8), Hispanic 3% (n = 3),
and mixed/other 24% (n = 25). Written consent was obtained from parents or primary caregivers for their child to participate in the study. The study population included a sizable proportion of overweight students with 56% of males and 36% of females with body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile for age and gender. The children also signed a written assent form.