TITLE:
Delivery and evaluation of a pilot obesity prevention project for urban Appalachian children
AUTHORS:
Laura Nabors, Michelle Burbage, Jordan Pangallo, Amy Bernard, Amanda Strong, Sarah Gardocki, Phyllis Shelton, Donna Jones
KEYWORDS:
Obesity Prevention Program for Children
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.3 No.4,
November
11,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Prevention of childhood obesity is a national
concern and there is a need for interventions that can be implemented in
community programs and are brief in nature. This pilot project was developed to
evaluate the impact of the Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise Program,
which was adapted from the Traffic Light Diet. Participants were urban
Appalachian children and adolescents who were enrolled in one of two
community-based summer programs. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used
to examine children’s impressions of the program and to assess what they
learned during implementation of the program. Results indicated that younger
children reported consuming fewer French fries or chips and older children
reported eating more vegetables at the end of the program. Knowledge of two
categories of Traffic Light foods appeared good; however, participants showed
lower knowledge about one of the food categories. Future studies should involve
parents as well as incorporate a more rigorous evaluation design with a
comparison group to examine the impact of this new program.