title: Power-up: a collaborative after-school program to prevent obesity in African American children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schools represent a key potential venue for addressing childhood obesity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the feasibility of Power-Up, an after-school program to decrease obesity risk among African American children, using community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Teachers led 14 weekly nutrition and physical activity sessions during afterschool care at the Woodlawn Community School on Chicago's South Side. Forty African American children ages 5 to 12 participated; their 28 parents discussed similar topics weekly at pickup time, and families practiced relevant skills at home. Pre- and post-intervention anthropometrics, blood pressure, dietary measures, and health knowledge and beliefs for children and parents were compared in univariate analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, 26% of children were overweight; 28% were obese. Post-intervention, mean body mass index (BMI) z scores decreased from 1.05 to 0.81 (p<.0001). Changes were more pronounced for overweight (-0.206 z-score units) than for obese children (-0.062 z-score units; p=.01). Girls decreased their combined prevalence of overweight/obesity from 52% to 46%; prevalence across these categories did not change for boys. The prevalence of healthful attitudes rose, including plans to "eat more foods that are good for you" (77% to 90%; p=.027) and "planning to try some new sports" (80% to 88%; p=.007).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children in the Power-Up program reduced mean BMI z scores significantly. The after-school venue proved feasible. The use of CBPR principles helped to integrate Power-Up into school activities and contributed to likelihood of sustainability. Engaging parents effectively in the afterschool time frame proved challenging; additional strategies to engage parents are under development. Plans are underway to evaluate this intervention through a randomized study.
authors.affiliation: University of Chicago Department of Medicine, Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: Shahid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choudhry
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McClinton-Powell
authors.forename: Marla
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Dawnavan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lipton
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Darukhanavala
authors.forename: Althera
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steenes
authors.forename: Kavitha
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Selvaraj
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gielissen
authors.forename: Lorne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Love
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Salahuddin
authors.forename: Frank K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Embil
authors.forename: Dezheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.forename: Marshall H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Burnet
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D050177:Overweight / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012574:Schools / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support