159588 VERBTM Summer Scorecard: What characterizes tweens who participate versus those who do not?

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Carol A. Bryant, PhD , College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Julie Baldwin, PhD , College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
David Hogeboom , College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Leah M. Phillips, MPH , University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Anita Courtney, MS, RD , Chair, Tweens Nutrition and Fitness Coalition, Public Health Consultant, Lexington, KY
Jen Nickelson, MS, RD , College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Moya Alfonso, MSPH, PhD , Jiann Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA
Jennifer French, MPH , Coordinator, Healthy Living Initiatives, Sarasota County Health and Human Services, Sarasota, FL
Kelli McCormack Brown, PhD , University of Florida, College of Health and Human Performance, Gainesville, FL
Robert J. McDermott, PhD , College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Establishing partnerships between schools and communities is essential for reversing childhood obesity trends and increasing physical activity (PA) levels of youth. The VERBTM Summer Scorecard (VSS) program is an innovative extension of the CDC's VERBTM national social marketing campaign with pilot sites in Lexington, KY, and elsewhere. VSS makes the community "exercise friendly" for tweens (9-13 year-olds) by offering numerous low cost or free PA opportunities. Tweens track their PA using a "Scorecard" each time they are physically active for 60 minutes, and become eligible for prizes and other incentives. This study compared youth who participated in VSS versus non-participants. PA measures, socio-demographics, parental support, and psychosocial variables, including self-efficacy, outcome expectations, social influences, and perceived barriers to PA, were examined. In Lexington, VSS youth (n= 617) were significantly more likely than non-VSS youth (n=380) to have parents who supported PA (p<.05), and to report greater self-efficacy to engage in PA (p<.005), higher outcome expectations regarding PA (p<.0005), higher perceived social influences (p<.05), and lower perceived barriers to PA (p<.0005). Participants were also more likely to report higher PA levels (p<.05) and to engage in more after-school activities during the school year (p<.05). Girls were significantly more likely than boys to participate in VSS (p<.05), a promising finding given previously noted PA drop-offs among girls. This presentation discusses promoting youth PA through social marketing campaigns, the need to tailor programs according to specific youth and parent characteristics, and insights for local adoption and implementation.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe characteristics of tweens who participated in the VERBTM Summer Scorecard program. 2. Identify issues that can be used to tailor programs to specific audiences. 3. Recognize opportunities to adopt and tailor national social marketing campaigns.

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Children and Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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