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SYSTEMS APPROACHES: MULTICOMPONENT PROGRAMS
AND INTERVENTIONS
Strategies for promoting behavioral change need to take account of the 
complex interactions between individuals and the settings in which they 
spend their time. While ecological models for health promotion encompass 
the individual, social, and policy levels, a systems approach (discussed in 
detail in Chapter 1) focuses on the dynamic interactions among various 
factors at those levels. A systems approach to increasing physical activity 
in children and adolescents can help address the complexity of this behav-
ior within the school setting. Integrating students and key players such as 
school and administrative personnel with the school and classroom envi-
ronments and all levels of policy may be the best way to influence sustain-
able changes in population-level physical activity behaviors.
According to a recently released report (HHS, 2013), multicomponent 
school-based approaches, which usually include enhanced physical educa-
tion in conjunction with other forms of school-related physical activity, 

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Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
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