Introduction: The California Children’s 5 a Day- Power Play! Campaign, funded by The California Endowment and USDA, was developed in 1992 for children age 9 to 11 to promote eating fruits and vegetables and living an active lifestyle in a fun, motivating manner. The program targets several communication channels, including schools, community youth organizations, media, supermarkets, food services, and farmers’ markets. This evaluation study focuses on the community youth organization channel. Methods: Using an experimental design, 2 San Francisco Bay Area communities were chosen based on similar demographic variables and exposure to the California Children’s 5 a Day- Power Play! Campaign. In the spring of 2000, approximately 1,000 children ages 8 to 13 in after school programs will be pre- and post-tested using a survey instrument. Those children located at the intervention site will receive an 8-week program with 5 a Day- Power Play! and other activities. Results: The changes in behavior, skills, knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs will be reported in the fall of 2000. In addition, the practical challenges of establishing the program in different types of community youth organizations will be discussed. Conclusions: After-school and latch-key programs are receiving increased attention because of their potential for housing interactive, skill-based, enriching interventions, however; there is virtually no research on social marketing campaigns in this setting. This study will demonstrate the importance of programs such as the California Children’s 5 a Day- Power Play! Campaign in community youth organizations and other channels.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to: 1) Describe how to evaluate the effectiveness of a youth-specific, community-based intervention in an after-school setting, focusing on enhancing fruit and vegetable consumption and an active lifestyle. 2) Identify the challenges of establishing an intervention in different community youth organizations
Keywords: Children, Nutrition
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: California Department of Health Services; Public Health Institute
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.