Delivery and evaluation of a pilot obesity prevention project for urban Appalachian children

摘要

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.