Purpose: Girls on the Run is an after-school physical activity-based positive youth development program designed to enhance girls’ social, psychological, and physical development. We evaluated the effectiveness of the program by employing a longitudinal design and mixed methods. Methods: Girls (N = 203; aged 8–11 y) completed survey measures of positive youth development constructs (competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring), physical activity, and sedentary behavior prior to, at the end of, and 3 months after the season. Subsamples of girls, coaches, caregivers, and school personnel participated in focus groups. Coaches completed information about their team’s community impact project and number of girls who completed the season-ending 5k. Results: The full sample improved in confidence and connection, whereas girls who started below the preseason average showed the greatest gains from preseason to postseason on all measures, and scores were maintained or continued to improve at follow-up. All stakeholders in focus groups corroborated evidence of season-long improvement in social and emotional behaviors and health outcomes. Involvement in the community impact project contributed to girls’ growth in character and empathy skills. Conclusion: Findings provide empirical evidence that Girls on the Run is effective in promoting positive youth development, including season-long and lasting change in competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and physical activity, especially among girls who exhibited lower preseason scores than their peers.
Purpose Pediatric obesity disproportionately impacts Hispanic or Latino/a adolescents. Culturally appropriate family-based behavioral initiatives to improve weight status are warranted. The purpose of this research was to determine prevalence rates and identify protective factors associated with having overweight/obesity (body mass index ≥ 85th percentile) to inform Hispanic or Latino/a-targeted behavioral intervention development. Design Secondary data analyses of a population-based statewide survey. Setting Minnesota public high schools. Participants Male (n = 2,644) and female (n = 2,798) Hispanic or Latino/a 9th and 11th graders (N = 5,442). Measures Obesity-related behaviors (meeting fruit and vegetable [F&V] and physical activity [PA] recommendations), family caring, family country/region of origin, and weight status. Analysis Stepwise logistic regression models (F&V, PA), stratified by biological sex, were used to identify protective factors of overweight/obesity. Results The overall prevalence of meeting F&V and PA recommendations was 11.0% and 11.8%, respectively. Meeting F&V recommendations was not protective against overweight/obesity in either sex. Yet, males and females who met PA recommendations had significantly lower odds of having overweight/obesity ( p < .05). In F&V and PA models, family caring was protective against overweight/obesity in females ( p < .05), and family country/region of origin was protective against overweight/obesity in both sexes ( p < .05). Conclusion Findings illustrate a need for obesity prevention initiatives for Hispanic or Latino/a youth. More research is needed to understand the protective nature of family caring and country/region of origin.
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