Healthy 4 Life: The development of a theater-based nutrition and physical activity intervention for at-risk African-American adolescents

Adolescence is a vulnerable period of life in which major cognitive and physical development occurs. During this time adolescents may be influenced to adopt negative health behaviors including poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. Low-income African-American youth are at greater risk for obesity than Caucasian youth. Teaching youth about the importance of healthy lifestyles is particularly important because overweight children are more likely to become obese adults. Using theater to teach healthy behavior presents a unique opportunity to reach both at-risk adolescents and their parents. The goal of this project was to develop a theater-based intervention that effectively conveys messages about healthy eating and physical activity to at-risk African-American adolescents. The study sample included at-risk adolescents (N=15) attending an urban middle school in the southeastern United States. Students participated in seventy-five minute sessions, two times per week to learn about healthy eating and physical activity, dramatic writing, and hip-hop dance. Students also completed home-based activities with their parents. The culminating event was a dinner theater presentation of an original play, “Getting on Track,” written and performed by students for parents, family, and friends. All participants were administered a pretest before program implementation and a post-test (six weeks after taking the pretest) after program completion. All participants reported enjoying the theater-based method of learning about health messages. Eighty percent of the participants showed an increase in their intentions to eat healthier foods and increase physical activity. Results of this theater-based intervention suggest that theater is a viable medium for health education for at-risk African-American adolescents.