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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Liz Schwarte, MPH, Sarah Samuels, DrPH, Lisa Craypo, MPH, RD, and Sarah Stone-Francisco, MPH. Samuels & Associates, 663 13th Street, 3rd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-271-6799, liz@samuelsandassociates.com

The Healthy Eating Active Communities (HEAC) Initiative aims to improve food and physical activity environments in six low income communities in California. Engagement and cultivation of youth leaders is a key component of the environmental change strategies employed by HEAC. Participants in the HEAC Youth Leadership Project organize or participate in local activities to promote healthy eating and physical activity opportunities. As part of the HEAC evaluation, a multi-method Youth Study has been developed to capture changes in youth perceptions of the nutrition and physical activity environment and to measure the extent to which youth efficacy as change agents and leaders increases. The purpose of this presentation is to share the methods and findings of focus groups conducted in the spring of 2006 with youth participating in HEAC. Focus group data will describe youth perceptions and opinions on the most effective strategies for increasing access to nutrition and physical activity opportunities, the greatest barriers to changing the food and physical activity environments in diverse communities, the role of youth in HEAC community activities, and common themes identified by youth across the six HEAC communities.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Discuss how focus groups can be used to elicit youth perceptions
• List the most significant challenges, opportunities and strategies for changing community nutrition and physical activity environments from the perspective of youth
• Describe the role of youth leaders in improving nutrition and physical activity environments

Keywords: Youth, Leadership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation