College students as facilitators in reducing adolescent obesity disparity in Southern Appalachia: Team Up for Healthy Living

Abstract

The proportion of obese adolescents in Southern Appalachia is among the highest in the nation. Through funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities – National Institutes of Health, the Team Up for Healthy Living project was a cluster-randomized trial targeting obesity prevention in adolescents through a cross-peer intervention. The specific aims of the project were to: 1) develop a peer-based health education program focusing on establishing positive peer norms towards healthy eating and physical activity (PA) among high school students, 2) test program efficacy, and 3) explore mechanisms underlying the program. The study was guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior, which presupposes that human behavior is primarily driven by attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and social support. To deliver the intervention, undergraduate students from the disciplines of public health, nutrition, and kinesiology were hired as peer facilitators. Ten area high schools were invited to participate, were matched on demographics and then randomized to intervention or control. The primary outcomes of the study included body mass status, dietary behaviors, PA, and sedentary behaviors which were assessed at baseline and at three and twelve months post baseline. Intervention schools received Team Up for Healthy Living curriculum, which consists of eight 40-minute sessions. The curriculum focused on improving nutrition awareness, PA, leadership and communication. Control schools received their regularly scheduled Lifetime Wellness curriculum. The long-term goal of the study was to establish an effective academia–community partnership program to address adolescent obesity disparity in Southern Appalachia.

Weight Misperception and Health-Related Quality of Life in Appalachian Adolescents in the United States

“…Baseline data collected in 2012 were used from the Team Up for Healthy Living Project, a cluster-randomized trial targeting obesity prevention in Southern Appalachia among high school adolescents in grades 9 – 12 through an 8-week cross-peer obesity prevention program conducted in Lifetime Wellness classes (Slawson et al, 2015). Of the 1654 participants contacted, 1509 consented to participate in the study (91.2%).…”

Examining General Versus Condition-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life Across Weight Categories in an Adolescent Sample

“…Participants in the current study were part of a larger school-based obesity prevention study, Team Up for Healthy Living , which assessed the effectiveness of an 8-session peer-delivered curriculum in Lifetime Wellness courses of participating high schools (Crenshaw, Mozen, Dalton, & Slawson, 2014; Dalton, Wang, Southerland, Schetzina, & Slawson, 2014; Mozen, Dalton, McKeehan, & Slawson, 2014; Slawson, Dalton, Wang, Southerland, Schetzina, Littleton, Stoots, Mozen, Lowe, Relyea, McKeehan, & Wu, in press). The larger study, which consisted of a cluster-randomized controlled trial, was initiated in two waves over the course of a year (spring 2012 and fall 2012).…”

“…Once the procedure for the study was explained to the students, those that wished to be included in the study were asked to sign an informed assent document. Additional details regarding the parent study may be found elsewhere (i.e., Slawson et al, in press). …”

Effects of an Adolescent Obesity Management Educational Program on Middle and High School Teachers in South Korea

“…It states that attitudes toward behavior and perceived behavioral control influence behavioral intention and actual performed behaviors. TPB has previously been used in school-based interventions for health behavior modification in overweight and obese adolescents [19,20].…”