title: Using the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) to assess barriers to healthy eating and active living in a low-income community.
abstract: Insufficient physical activity and unhealthy eating behaviors are major contributors to the obesity epidemic in the United States. Identifying health behaviors and disparities in underserved communities is needed to guide the development of targeted interventions. The Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) is a set of tools designed for public health emergencies, but the utility of CASPER in non-emergency settings has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to use CASPER to obtain information on household-based behaviors of and barriers to fruit/vegetable consumption and physical activity, and explore the utility of these methods for future health assessments. Cross-sectional survey data included households (n=100) in a low-income neighborhood. Half of adults did not meet recommendations for fruit/vegetable consumption and 20% reported no physical activity during the previous week. Cost was significantly associated with healthy eating and physical activity in our community. Four primary advantages of using CASPER methodology included a user-friendly CDC toolkit, yield of a representative community sample with a relatively low sample size, low-cost/low-tech requirements for implementation, and the strengthening of an academic-practice-community partnership. Our work demonstrates the utility of CASPER for assessing healthy living in a geographically-defined community where household health behaviors and barriers are unknown.
authors: Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Baylor University, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, One Bear Place #97313, Waco, TX 76798, USA. Electronic address: kelly_ylitalo@baylor.edu.
authors: Kelly R
authors: KR
authors: Ylitalo
authors: Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Baylor University, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, One Bear Place #97313, Waco, TX 76798, USA.
authors: M Renée
authors: MR
authors: Umstattd Meyer
authors: Waco-McLennan County Public Health District, 225 W. Waco Drive, Waco, TX 76707, USA.
authors: Kahler
authors: K
authors: Stone
authors: Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, Baylor University, Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, One Bear Place #97313, Waco, TX 76798, USA.
authors: Eva I
authors: EI
authors: Doyle
authors: Baylor University, Academy for Leader Development & Civic Engagement, One Bear Place #97372, Waco, TX 76798, USA.
authors: Ramona
authors: R
authors: Curtis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D000072001:Diet, Healthy / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology*; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Community assessment for public health emergency response; Healthy eating; Obesity; Physical activity