Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Pediatric Nursing, cilt.88, ss.560-568, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)
Introduction Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality globally, and modifiable risk factors often emerge during childhood. School-based interventions are critical for prevention; however, evidence regarding nurse-led programs in Türkiye remains limited. Objective This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a nurse-led, school-based cardiovascular health promotion program on health behaviors in sixth-grade students. Methods A quasi-experimental study with a pretest–posttest–follow-up design was conducted on an initial sample of 88 sixth-grade students. The intervention group participated in a 5-week online education program, while the control group received no intervention. IBM SPSS version 29.0 was used to perform a two-way mixed ANOVA, with p values <.05 considered statistically significant. Results The study was completed with 85 participants. A significant group × time interaction effect was found for the Cardiovascular Health Behavior Scale (p = .038) and the Visual Questionnaire (p = .001), indicating greater improvement in scores over time in the intervention group compared with the control group. The intervention group showed significant improvements in health behavior scores at pos t -test compared to baseline. Improvements in visual questionnaire scores persisted at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusion The nurse-led, school-based cardiovascular health promotion program is an effective intervention for improving cardiovascular health behaviors in children. Integrating such programs into school curricula can support the adoption of long-term healthy lifestyle habits. Practice implications Pediatric nurses can play a pivotal role in implementing cardiovascular health promotion programs by systematically assessing cardiovascular risk factors, delivering age-appropriate health education, and collaborating with families to reinforce healthy behaviors. These nurse-led interventions can be effectively delivered in school settings or via remote learning to foster healthy habits and prevent future cardiovascular risks in children.