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

Abstract #111009

D'Yuanna L. Allen, BS, MPH, Maternal and Child Health, Youth Advisory Board, Nashville/Davidson County Metro Public Health Department, 311 23rd Ave., Nashville, TN 37203, 615-340-2175, dyuanna.allen@nashville.gov and Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, MD MPH, Division of Family, Youth and Infant Health, Metro Nashville Public Health Department, 311 23rd Ave North, Nashville, TN 37203.

The inaugural Youth Advisory Board (YAB)/Project ASK was initiated by executive order of the Director of Health in March 1998 at the Nashville/Davidson County Metro Public Health Department to serve as the following: An opportunity to empower young public health advocates to develop local and state adolescent health and community research projects and policies that promote sustained health outcomes. Since its inception, Project ASK (PA) meets bi-weekly to learn the foundation of evidenced-based public health research related to adolescent health issues and apply epidemiologic principles to include research design, analysis, interpretation, and data reporting as well as intervention design and implementation. In 2005, Project Ask focused research efforts on underage drinking in the Nashville, Tennessee college freshmen population.

To date, approximately 19% of Nashville adolescents reported consumption of 5 or more alcoholic beverages in a 30 day period, more than 6 times the 3% Healthy People 2010 target goal. Furthermore, adolescent alcohol abuse increases the likelihood of adult alcohol abuse. To address underage drinking, Project ASK conducted an on-going survey of the college freshman population to access the level of binge drinking during the first year and to identify the risk factors associated with binge drinking as a means of potentially designing an effective intervention applicable to the Nashville/Davidson County high school population prior to matriculation. While the author recognizes that substantial research exists on college and underage binge drinking, this approach is unique because the researchers are students connecting with their peers, thus more strongly impacting the intervention outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize the utilization of public health youth boards as an innovative approach to public health education and promotion
• Discuss the effectiveness of youth intervention development
• Identify strategies for the development of an advisory or research related youth board

Keywords: Youth, Health Departments

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.