Developing a Parent-Centered Obesity Prevention Program for 4-H Families: Implications for Extension Family Programming

Abstract

Planning youth and family programming in the 21st century is daunting given family members' busy schedules. This is even more challenging when planning programs in rural areas, where there are vast distances between communities. This article discusses a research and educational outreach project that uses best practices in program development in order to create an obesity prevention program for parents of 4-H youth in a rural state. Practices discussed include the development of an interdisciplinary team, information gathered and implemented from focus groups, and the use of evaluations during the pilot-stage of the project. Implications for Extension programming are discussed.