NuFit: Nutrition and Fitness CBPR Program Evaluation

Abstract

The present study combines community-based participatory research (CBPR) and peer education to create NuFit, a nutrition and fitness curriculum, adapted by community and student peer leaders for Latino and African-American high-school students in Chicago. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility and efficacy of the NuFit curriculum to improve the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding nutrition and fitness for minority and adolescent student populations. The NuFit curriculum improved students' short-term self-reported behaviors and attitudes around nutrition and fitness. The NuFit curriculum shows promise as one mechanism to help prevent and combat childhood obesity by fostering healthy attitudes and behaviors during the critical developmental stage of adolescence. Involvement of and collaboration between community stakeholders and youth appeared to increase the likelihood of NuFit's cultural relevance and sustainability. More work is necessary to evaluate the long-term effects of NuFit.

Systematic Review of School‐Based Interventions to Modify Dietary Behavior: Does Intervention Intensity Impact Effectiveness?

“…Table presents the intensity evaluation of studies aiming to modify behavior across different nutrition categories. Interventions in each category were highly effective: fruit and vegetable (N = 33; effective N = 27, ineffective N = 4, unknown effectiveness N = 2), general healthy eating (N = 53; effective N = 41, ineffective N = 10, unknown effectiveness N = 2), single food or food group (N = 12; effective N = 8, ineffective N = 3, unknown effectiveness N = 1), and single nutrient (N = 7; effective N = 5, ineffective N = 1, unknown effectiveness N = 1). Comparing the frequency of effective studies in different categories showed that the mean frequency of interventions in the single food or food group category was significantly higher than for the general healthy eating category (ANOVA p = .04, Tukey's post hoc test p = .03).…”

The Influence of Parental Participation on Obesity Interventions in African American Adolescent Females: An Integrative Review

“…As identified through these studies, adolescent girls prefer interaction and collaboration with their peer networks thus, including this education with all adolescents and parent groups, may be beneficial (McKinney et al, 2014).…”

School-Based Physical Activity Interventions in Prevocational Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

“…Ten of the 40 studies [20,23,26,29,39,40,44,46,51,53] lacked a clear description of the randomization process, but the effect sizes were comparable for both categories in the total group. A clear description of when the process of randomization occurred before or after the baseline assessment was lacking in 29 studies [16e18, 20,21,23,24,26,28e31,33e37,39,41,42,44,46e 48,51e55].…”