Process and Outcomes From a Youth-Led Campaign to Address Healthy Eating in an Urban High School.
This article describes a pilot youth advocacy initiative for obesity prevention informed by social cognitive theory, social network theory, and theories of community mobilization. With assistance from school and health leaders, adolescent-aged youth led a cafeteria food labeling and social marketing campaign. We implemented an anonymous survey 2 weeks prior to and again at the conclusion of the campaign, and used cafeteria records to track servings of fruits and vegetables. The campaign resulted in a significant increase in youths' confidence to identify healthy foods (OR 1.97, 95 % CI 1.01, 3.84, p = .048), and a significant increase in per person per day servings of fruits (0.02, p = .03) and vegetables (0.01, p = .02). The results of our pilot were promising, and the integration of concepts from multiple theories benefited the implementation process. Obesity prevention initiatives should include strategies that encourage youth to create health promotion community networks and lead changes to their social and physical environments.
Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA. leahf@unc.edu.|Center for Health Equity Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 323 MacNider Hall; CB 7240, 333 South Columbia St., Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7240, USA. leahf@unc.edu.
Leah
L
Frerichs
Alegent Creighton Health, Omaha, NE, USA.
Sarah
S
Sjolie
Omaha South High Magnet School, Omaha, NE, USA.
Matthew
M
Curtis
Omaha South High Magnet School, Omaha, NE, USA.
Melissa
M
Peterson
Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.|City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Terry T-K
TT
Huang
D000293:Adolescent; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005522:Food Services / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D009329:Nebraska; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010379:Peer Group; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012572:School Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D040241:Social Marketing; D061108:Social Media; D014504:Urban Health
Childhood obesity; Community health; Nutrition and diet