ICAR Research Data Repository for Knowledge Management

This dataset represents a group of paper records (a "series") within the Harvard School of Public Health Harvard Prevention Research Center records, 1992-2003 (inclusive), 1994-2003 (bulk), which can be accessed on-site at the Center for the History of Medicine at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. The series consists primarily of raw data fitness questionnaires completed by students during the Harvard Prevention Research Center's randomized control trial of the Planet Health curriculum.

Questionnaires were called Fitness Folders during the first year of the trial (1995-1996) and FitChecks during the following year (1996-1997), although both collected the same information: amount of time spent on physical ("fit") activities and stationary ("sit") activities; fitness goals; and activity self-evaluation. Questionnaires were completed at middle schools in several Massachusetts cities and towns, including Cambridge, Framingham, Lynn, and Somerville. Subseries also includes: analyzed questionnaire data; blank questionnaires and questionnaire instructions; administrative and program planning correspondence; and fitness folder drafts and related production correspondence.

Attached to the "Fitcheck and Fitness Folder Records, 1994-1997" dataset are files, digitized from their original paper copies, that serve as examples of the records that may be found in the series. Additional data and associated records are accessible onsite at the Center for the History of Medicine per the conditions governing access described below.

Conditions Governing Access to Original Collection Materials: The series represented by this dataset includes health information that is restricted for 80 years from the date of record creation, and Harvard University records that are restricted for 50 years from the date of record creation. Researchers should contact Public Services for more information.

The Harvard School of Public Health Harvard Prevention Research Center records were processed with grant funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as awarded and administered by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) in 2016. View the Harvard Prevention Research Center Records finding aid for a full collection inventory of both paper and digital records, and for more information about accessing and using the collection.