evaluation of a theory based childhood overweight prevention curriculum

Abstract

Food Fit, a social cognitive theory based (SCT) nutrition intervention, was implemented to 3rd-5th grade student’s at 5 YMCA after-school programs to impact specific dietary behaviors associated with the prevention of childhood overweight (n = 58). Pre and post tests were administered for each lesson to evaluate changes in behavioral capabilities (BC), self efficacy (SE), and outcome expectancies (OE) for each lesson's key objectives. A child-modified Food Behavior Checklist was administered before and after the program to evaluate dietary behaviors. Results showed significant improvements for SCT psychosocial variables (i.e. outcome expectancies for eating raw vegetables (p<0.01), self efficacy for eating fruit (p<.05)) Significant dietary changes included an increased consumption of fruits and vegetables as snacks (p<.001), citrus fruits and juice (p<0.02), raw vegetables (p<.001), and increased use of the food label to determine food selection (p<0.001). The FF program appears to be successful at favorably impacting children's BC, SE and OE for food selection behaviors thought to contribute to the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity. FF may be a viable nutrition program for use in multi-component interventions, aimed at impacting behaviors associated with the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity.