Get Fit with the Grizzlies: a community-school-home initiative to fight childhood obesity.
BACKGROUND
Professional sport organizations in the United States have notable celebrity status, and several teams have used this "star power" to collaborate with local school districts toward the goal of affecting children's health. Program effectiveness is unknown due to the absence of comprehensive evaluations for these initiatives. The Memphis Grizzlies, the city's National Basketball Association franchise, launched "Get Fit with the Grizzlies," a 6-week, curricular addition focusing on nutrition and physical activity for the fourth and fifth grades in Memphis City Schools (MCS). The health-infused mini-unit was delivered by physical education teachers during their classes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the "Get Fit" program effectiveness.


METHODS
Survey research was employed which measured health knowledge acquisition and health behavior change using a matched pre/posttest design in randomly chosen schools (n = 11) from all elementary schools in the MCS system (N = 110). The total number of matched pre/posttests (n = 888) equaled approximately 5% of the total fourth-/fifth-grade population. McNemar's test for significance (p < .05) was applied. Odds ratios were calculated for each question.


RESULTS
Analyses confirmed that there was significant health knowledge acquisition (7 of 8 questions) with odds ratios confirming moderate to strong associations. Seven out of 10 health behavior change questions significantly improved after intervention, whereas odds ratios indicated a low level of association after intervention.


CONCLUSIONS
This community-school-home initiative using a professional team's celebrity platform within a certain locale is largely overlooked by school districts and should be considered as a positive strategy to confront childhood obesity.
Irwin
Carol C
CC
Department of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152, USA. cirwin@memphis.edu
Irwin
Richard L
RL
Miller
Maureen E
ME
Somes
Grant W
GW
Richey
Phyllis A
PA
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003479:Curriculum; D003625:Data Collection; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010809:Physical Fitness; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D040241:Social Marketing; D012946:Social Welfare; D013177:Sports; D013714:Tennessee