TY - JOUR
T1 - Impact of Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones
T2 - An Environmental Intervention to Improve Diet Among African American Youth
AU - Shin, Ahyoung
AU - Surkan, Pamela J.
AU - Coutinho, Anastasia J.
AU - Suratkar, Sonali R.
AU - Campbell, Rebecca K.
AU - Rowan, Megan
AU - Sharma, Sangita
AU - Dennisuk, Lauren A.
AU - Karlsen, Micaela
AU - Gass, Anthony
AU - Gittelsohn, Joel
N1 - Funding Information:
This article is part of a Health Education & Behavior supplement, “The Evidence for Policy and Environmental Approaches to Promoting Health,” which was supported by a grant to the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The entire supplemental issue is open access at http://heb.sagepub.com/content/42/1_suppl.toc .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Society for Public Health Education.
PY - 2015/4/4
Y1 - 2015/4/4
N2 - This study assessed the impact of a youth-targeted multilevel nutrition intervention in Baltimore City. The study used a clustered randomized design in which 7 recreation centers and 21 corner stores received interventions and 7 additional recreation centers served as comparison. The 8-month intervention aimed to increase availability and selection of healthful foods through nutrition promotion and education using point-of purchase materials such as posters and flyers in stores and interactive sessions such as taste test and cooking demonstrations. Two hundred forty-two youth–caregiver dyads residing in low-income areas of Baltimore City recruited from recreation centers were surveyed at baseline using detailed instruments that contained questions about food-related psychosocial indicators (behavioral intentions, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and knowledge), healthful food purchasing and preparation methods, and anthropometric measures (height and weight). The Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones intervention was associated with reductions in youth body mass index percentile (p =.04). In subgroup analyses among overweight and obese girls, body mass index for age percentile decreased significantly in girls assigned to the intervention group (p =.03) and in girls with high exposure to the intervention (p =.013), as opposed to those in comparison or lower exposure groups. Intervention youth significantly improved food-related outcome expectancies (p =.02) and knowledge (p <.001). The study results suggest that the Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones multilevel intervention had a modest impact in reducing overweight or obesity among already overweight low-income African American youth living in an environment where healthful foods are less available. Additional studies are needed to determine the relative impact of health communications and environmental interventions in this population, both alone and in combination.
AB - This study assessed the impact of a youth-targeted multilevel nutrition intervention in Baltimore City. The study used a clustered randomized design in which 7 recreation centers and 21 corner stores received interventions and 7 additional recreation centers served as comparison. The 8-month intervention aimed to increase availability and selection of healthful foods through nutrition promotion and education using point-of purchase materials such as posters and flyers in stores and interactive sessions such as taste test and cooking demonstrations. Two hundred forty-two youth–caregiver dyads residing in low-income areas of Baltimore City recruited from recreation centers were surveyed at baseline using detailed instruments that contained questions about food-related psychosocial indicators (behavioral intentions, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and knowledge), healthful food purchasing and preparation methods, and anthropometric measures (height and weight). The Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones intervention was associated with reductions in youth body mass index percentile (p =.04). In subgroup analyses among overweight and obese girls, body mass index for age percentile decreased significantly in girls assigned to the intervention group (p =.03) and in girls with high exposure to the intervention (p =.013), as opposed to those in comparison or lower exposure groups. Intervention youth significantly improved food-related outcome expectancies (p =.02) and knowledge (p <.001). The study results suggest that the Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones multilevel intervention had a modest impact in reducing overweight or obesity among already overweight low-income African American youth living in an environment where healthful foods are less available. Additional studies are needed to determine the relative impact of health communications and environmental interventions in this population, both alone and in combination.
KW - African American youth; childhood obesity
KW - adolescent health
KW - community-based research
KW - corner store intervention
KW - social cognitive theory
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U2 - 10.1177/1090198115571362
DO - 10.1177/1090198115571362
M3 - Article
C2 - 25829124
AN - SCOPUS:84926349820
SN - 1090-1981
VL - 42
SP - 97
EP - 105
JO - Health Education and Behavior
JF - Health Education and Behavior
ER -