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School-Based Diabetes Prevention Program

Since its inception, the Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project (SLHDP) has developed, implemented and evaluated several community-based intervention strategies focusing on the prevention of diabetes among First Nations in the Sandy Lake community. One significant strategy is the School-Based Diabetes Prevention Program (SBDPP). Initially conducted as a pilot program/PhD thesis in 1998-1999 by Dr. Brit Saksvig, the SBDPP is a culturally sensitive school curriculum developed using Aboriginal North American learning styles for grades 3 and 4. The curriculum consists of information on diabetes, healthy eating and daily physical activity. Results from the original pilot and feasibility study reported a significant association with an increase in nutritional knowledge, specifically concerning foods low in fat, health food choices and daily recommendations of dietary fibre intake. The program demonstrated a significant decrease in percent of calories from dietary fat between baseline and follow-up.

The SBDPP provides students in grades 3 and 4 with opportunities to:

  • Make healthy food choices
  • Learn about various forms of physical activity
  • Practice such positive behaviours

Current program initiatives include:

  • Determining barriers to sustainability of the SBDPP
  • Revision of the SBDPP curriculum and institutionalization processes
  • Development and implementation of a physical activity component
  • Evaluating the effectiveness SBDPP in its entirety. The evaluation consists of pre- and post-testing of body measurements, dietary intake and physical activity measures for the 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 school years.