Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #110589

Margaret Libby, MSW and Jennifer Juras, PhD. Youth Leadership Institute, 246 First Street Suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94105, 4158369160, mlibby@yli.org

The Marin County Youth Commission (MCYC) is a project of the Youth Leadership Institute (YLI), a national San Francisco-based organization that strives to build communities where young people and their adult allies come together to create positive social change. YLI and MCYC partnered to conduct action research with the goal of assisting Marin County in engaging students to improve their schools' nutrition policies and programs. MCYC utilized YLI's action research model, which places youth in leadership roles and utilizes their expertise to shape research that is meaningful and relevant to their peers. MCYC members worked with The Marin County Division of Public Health, Nutrition Wellness Program, and YLI to develop The Student Nutrition Survey, which collected information about student nutrition, physical activity, and body image issues, and administered the survey to 1200 high school youth. The questions focused on student perceptions, preferences, and experiences related to student meals, vending machines, weight, dieting, and resources on campus to assist students with these issues. The youth development framework in which the survey was developed gave youth an active voice in determining survey content, administration logistics, and presentation of the results to local community members and policy-makers. MCYC youth researchers are currently using their findings to drive community action, including educational campaigns, policy and media advocacy, and resource allocation changes. A brief overview of findings is presented below:

(1) Most students are interested in healthy food options. (2) One-third reported being on a diet or having been on a diet in the past. (3) More than 1 in 5 students reported having been harassed due to their body size, while nearly half were unclear about how their schools handled such harassment. (4) Few students knew about the resources available to them concerning nutrition and body image. (5) One third of students reported an interest in getting involved in nutrition reform at their school.

The proposed presentation will cover: • MCYC's action research, including their survey findings and resulting policy recommendations and community action • MCYC members' experience of five standards of practice for youth development settings (i.e., Safety, Community Involvement, Relationship Building, Skill Development, and Leadership and Advocacy) during their project, as measured by YLI's Youth Development Survey.

Learning Objectives:

• • Marin County Youth Commission’s (MCYC) action research model
• • MCYC’s survey findings and resulting policy recommendations and community action
• • MCYC members’ experience of five standards of practice for youth development settings (i.e., Safety, Community Involvement, Relationship Building, Skill Development, and Leadership and Advocacy) during their work as youth researchers and activists, as measured by Youth Leadership Institute’s Youth Development Survey
• • School nutrition policy outcomes associated with student-led action research
• • Lessons learned from an innovative model to bring student voices into school nutrition decisionmaking

Keywords: Adolescent Health, Assessments

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.