TY - JOUR
T1 - Power-up
T2 - a collaborative after-school program to prevent obesity in African American children.
AU - Choudhry, Shahid
AU - McClinton-Powell, Lori
AU - Solomon, Marla
AU - Davis, Dawnavan
AU - Lipton, Rebecca
AU - Darukhanavala, Amy
AU - Steenes, Althera
AU - Selvaraj, Kavitha
AU - Gielissen, Katherine
AU - Love, Lorne
AU - Salahuddin, Renee
AU - Embil, Frank K.
AU - Huo, Dezheng
AU - Chin, Marshall H.
AU - Quinn, Michael T.
AU - Burnet, Deborah L.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Schools represent a key potential venue for addressing childhood obesity. To assess the feasibility of Power-Up, an after-school program to decrease obesity risk among African American children, using community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles. Teachers led 14 weekly nutrition and physical activity sessions during afterschool care at the Woodlawn Community School on Chicago's South Side. Forty African American children ages 5 to 12 participated; their 28 parents discussed similar topics weekly at pickup time, and families practiced relevant skills at home. Pre- and post-intervention anthropometrics, blood pressure, dietary measures, and health knowledge and beliefs for children and parents were compared in univariate analysis. At baseline, 26% of children were overweight; 28% were obese. Post-intervention, mean body mass index (BMI) z scores decreased from 1.05 to 0.81 (p<.0001). Changes were more pronounced for overweight (-0.206 z-score units) than for obese children (-0.062 z-score units; p=.01). Girls decreased their combined prevalence of overweight/obesity from 52% to 46%; prevalence across these categories did not change for boys. The prevalence of healthful attitudes rose, including plans to "eat more foods that are good for you" (77% to 90%; p=.027) and "planning to try some new sports" (80% to 88%; p=.007). Children in the Power-Up program reduced mean BMI z scores significantly. The after-school venue proved feasible. The use of CBPR principles helped to integrate Power-Up into school activities and contributed to likelihood of sustainability. Engaging parents effectively in the afterschool time frame proved challenging; additional strategies to engage parents are under development. Plans are underway to evaluate this intervention through a randomized study.
AB - Schools represent a key potential venue for addressing childhood obesity. To assess the feasibility of Power-Up, an after-school program to decrease obesity risk among African American children, using community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles. Teachers led 14 weekly nutrition and physical activity sessions during afterschool care at the Woodlawn Community School on Chicago's South Side. Forty African American children ages 5 to 12 participated; their 28 parents discussed similar topics weekly at pickup time, and families practiced relevant skills at home. Pre- and post-intervention anthropometrics, blood pressure, dietary measures, and health knowledge and beliefs for children and parents were compared in univariate analysis. At baseline, 26% of children were overweight; 28% were obese. Post-intervention, mean body mass index (BMI) z scores decreased from 1.05 to 0.81 (p<.0001). Changes were more pronounced for overweight (-0.206 z-score units) than for obese children (-0.062 z-score units; p=.01). Girls decreased their combined prevalence of overweight/obesity from 52% to 46%; prevalence across these categories did not change for boys. The prevalence of healthful attitudes rose, including plans to "eat more foods that are good for you" (77% to 90%; p=.027) and "planning to try some new sports" (80% to 88%; p=.007). Children in the Power-Up program reduced mean BMI z scores significantly. The after-school venue proved feasible. The use of CBPR principles helped to integrate Power-Up into school activities and contributed to likelihood of sustainability. Engaging parents effectively in the afterschool time frame proved challenging; additional strategies to engage parents are under development. Plans are underway to evaluate this intervention through a randomized study.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 22616204
AN - SCOPUS:84862240644
VL - 5
SP - 363
EP - 373
JO - Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
JF - Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
SN - 1557-0541
IS - 4
ER -