Participants’ Perceptions of the Feed the Future Integrating Nutrition in Val...
FLP_PRESENTATION
1. +
Implementing and Evaluating an After-School Youth
Community Agriculture Program
Ivana Mattingly
MPH Candidate, Health Management and System Sciences
University of Louisville School of Public Health & Information Sciences
2. + The Food Literacy Project at
Oxmoor Farm
“Inspiring a new generation to build healthy
relationships with food, farming, and the land.”
Founded in 2006 as a non-profit educational agency
Educational component of Field Day Family Farm
Experiential Education
Learning garden, outdoor kitchen, truck farm
Initiatives
Farm-based education
Youth development
Family engagement
Food access
Professional development
Community outreach and engagement
3. +
Youth Community Agriculture
Program (YCAP)
7-week summer program
Farm work
Field trips
Farmer’s market
Learning workshops
Nutrition Proficiency
Leadership Development
Engagement with the
Community Food System
4. +
Research Question
The purpose of this research and pilot program is two-fold:
1. To determine if the YCAP summer model can be effectively
transposed to an academic-year setting.
2. To determine if this type of program produces positive
behavior change among students.
5. +
Materials & Methods
Literature Review
Curriculum Outline
Debrief Template
Educational materials
Fresh produce
Maps
Paper products
Pre-survey
Completed Debriefs
Journals
Post-survey
Focus Group
Data Analysis
Qualitative
Quantitative
Development & Implementation Evaluation
7. +
Results: Nutrition Indicators
31%
46%
15%
8%
20%
0%
50%
30%
No Yes, 1 serving Yes, 2
servings
Yes, 3 or more
servings
Yesterday, did you eat any
vegetables?
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
0%
46%
31%
23%
0% 0%
50% 50%
0 servings 1-2 servings 3-4 servings 5 or more
servings
How many servings of fruit
and vegetables should be
eaten everyday?
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
8. +
Results: Nutrition Indicators
8%
39%
23%
0%
31%
0%
10%
40%
0%
50%
None 1-2 days 3-4 days 5-6 days Everyday
Last week, how many days
did you eat breakfast?
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
15%
39%
46%
0%
10%
90%
Not at all confident Somewhat
confident
Very confident
Confidence in Ability to Read
a Nutrition Label
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
9. +
Results: Leadership Indicators
0%
39%
62%
0% 0%
100%
Not at all confident Somewhat
confident
Very confident
Confidence in Ability to Self-
Motivate and Take Initiative
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
23%
54%
23%
10%
20%
70%
Not at all confident Somewhat
confident
Very confident
Confidence in Ability to
Speak Publically
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
10. +
Results: Community Food System
Engagement Indicators
15%
85%
0%
100%
No Yes
My food choices impact my
health and the environment
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
31%
69%70%
30%
No Yes
All families in Louisville have
access to fresh fruits and
vegetables
Pre-Survey (n=13) Post-Survey (n=10)
11. + Qualitative Results
1. Learning New Ways to Eat Vegetables
2. Sharing Ideas for the Future
3. Helping People Live Healthier
4. Financial Constraints to Accessing Healthy Food
5. Farm to Kitchen Consumer Perspective
12. +
Limitations & Challenges
Time constraints
Population characteristics
Data collection & analysis
Structural issues
13. +
Conclusions &
Recommendations
YCAP was successful in
improving nutritional proficiency
and strengthening leadership
skills through the development of
connection to the community
food system.
Future Recommendations:
1. Partnerships with
student-led clubs
2. In-class visit
opportunities
3. Grocery Store 101
14. +
References (1)
Backman, D.R., Haddad, E.H., Lee, J.W., Johnston, P.K., & Hodgkin, G.E. (2002). Psychosocial Predictors of
Healthful Dietary Behavior in Adolescents. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 34(4), 184-193.
doi:10.1016/S1499-4046(06)60092-4
BeLue, R., Francis, L.A., & Colaco, B. (2009). Mental health problems and overweight in a nationally representative
sample of adolescents: effects of race and ethnicity. Pediatrics, 123(2), 697-702. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-0687
Berezowitz, C.K., Bontrager Yoder, A.B., & Scholler, D.A. (2015). School Gardens Enhance Academic Performance
and Dietary Outcomes in Children. Journal of School Health, 85(8), 508-518. doi: 10.1111/josh.12278
Birkhead, G.S., Riser, M.H., Mesler, K., Tallon, T.C., and Klein, S.J. (2006). Youth development is a public health
approach. Introduction. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, November (Suppl), S1-S3.
Billig, S. (2000). Research on K-12 school-based service-learning: The evidence builds. Retrieved from
http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/slcek12/3
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2014. Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/yrbs.
Accessed on November 15, 2015.
Cidell, J. (2010). Content clouds as exploratory qualitative data analysis. Area, 42(4), 514-523. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-
4762.2010.00952.x
Croll, J.K., Neumark-Sztainer, D., & Story, M. (2001). Healthy Eating: What does it mean to adolescents? Journal of
Nutrition Education, 33(4), 193-198. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11953240
Davis, E.M., Cullen, K.W., Watson, K.B., Konarik, M., & Radcliffe, J. (2009). A Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program
improves high school students’ consumption of fresh produce. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(7),
1227-1231. doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2009.04.017
15. +
References (2)
Dillon, J., Rickinson, M., Teamey, K., Morris, M., Choi, M.Y., & Sanders, D. (2006). The value of outdoor
learning: evidence from research in the UK and elsewhere. School Science Review, 87(320), 107-111.
Estes, C.A. (2004). Promoting Student-Centered Learning in Experiential Education. Journal of
Experiential Education, 27(2), 141-160.
Kentucky Department of Education. (2015). Kentucky School Report Card [Data file]. Retrieved from
https://applications.education.ky.gov/src/Profile.aspx
Little, P. M.D., Wimer, C. , & Weiss, H. B. (2007). After school programs in the 21st century: Their potential
and what it takes to achieve it. Issues and Opportunities in Out-of-School Time Evaluation Brief No. 10.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project.
National Cancer Institute (U.S.). (1995). Theory at a Glance: A guide for health promotion practice.
Bethesda, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of
Health, National Cancer Institute.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2015). Adolescent Health. Retrieved from
http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/Adolescent-Health.
Taliaferro, L.A. & Borowsky, I.W. (2012). Beyond Prevention: Promoting healthy youth development in
primary care. American Journal of Public Health. 102(Suppl 3), S317-S312. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3478078/
Zygomatic. (n.d.). Word Cloud [online program]. Available from http://www.wordclouds.com/
Editor's Notes
-
Paid ~30 hours per week
-Why expand the program? What impact would it have and why does this matter?
-18% of high school students in Kentucky are obese. Higher than national average
By expanding the reach of YCAP, we could further address overweight and obesity and its comorbidities both mental and physical. Depression, and type II diabetes
-Healthy People 2020: Adolescent Health as focus area.
Growing ethnic diversity requires such programs to have a culturally competent approach
Need more research and evaluation evidence to determine what are the best practices for youth development programs
-”Healthy Youth Development” is the idea that young people are best served by a program that builds upon their strengths and achieves learning by students’ own action, rather than one that generates fear around their weaknesses or emphasizes what they’re doing wrong and creating goals that don’t fit into their lived experience.
Development
-Spent time with summer YCAP weekly to observe the program and evaluation process
-lit review
-curriculum (Food Literacy Project resources including external resources such as The Food Project who does similar programs)
-Debrief Template: Farm Based Educator and I to record daily thoughts on how the program was implemented
-Plan of the materials to facilitate the program
Implementation -used the curriculum and educational materials Evaluation – sprinkled throughout implementation
-pre-survey
-debriefs
-post-survey
-student journals
-focus group, 2 weeks after on nov. 9
-data analysis
-Chart of activities incorporated into the program.
Highlighted a few for you to get a gist of what we did.
First chart: Yesterday did you eat any vegetables?
Around 80% had 0 to 1 serving, by the end of the program 80% of students had at least 2 servings
How many servings of fruit and vegetables SHOULD be eaten daily? – Knowledge question
50% 1-2 servings at baseline, 100% believed you should eat at least 3 by the end of the program
Last week, how many days did you eat breakfast?
-Big change when you have nearly 50% rarely eating breakfast at all to 50% eating it every day by the end of the program.
Confidence in ability to read a nutrition label, which I think many adults have trouble doing
-90% confident by the end of the program.
Confidence in ability to self-motivate and take initiative.
100% of students feeling they can wake up and accomplish something.
Confidence to speak publically
- Something that makes us all a bit nervous, but a big change from 23% to 70% being very confident. When giving students an environment to speak their opinion without a standard for a right or wrong answer, they generate more self-esteem that their voice matters, and that they have the possibility to influence others. Sometimes this isnt exercised in school when book work is prioritized often over discussions and presentations.
My food choices impact my health and the environment – I think most students understood they health component, but didn’t really understand how related food and our environment are until actually mapping where our food comes from and discussing agricultural methods.
Here we see 70% of students figured sure, anyone can go to a grocery store and buy some bananas and broccoli. And then by program end, about 70% had begun processing the difficulties families face in getting to a grocery store, let alone purchasing it and then preparing it.
Qualitative results are organized by themes.
First, coded the statements from the transcript from the focus group and journal entries as they pertained to various topics such as nutrition understanding and skills, food access, or leadership.
Next, uploaded the transcript and journal entries into a web-based word cloud program (www.wordclouds.com) to visually represent the words students used most.
Finally, took these words and constructed themes that describe qualitative results of the program in the language of the participants.
Learning new ways to eat vegetables “I thought, like, a lot of things would be like kinda gross… but it was actually like most of the stuff was pretty good. Like I didn’t think I was going to like the pizza at the field trip but it was actually pretty good.”
Sharing ideas for the future: “I want to go to nursing school and then go back and get the hospital to pay for my doctorate.”
Helping people live healthier: “…it’s helping her because she’s losing weight like she wanted to, but now she don’t eat it as much, like she actually eats regular food nowadays and, um, I’m proud of her.” In addition, students discussed service opportunities to get on the ground and help people who face trouble accessing healthy foods which translates into the next theme
Financial Constraints to Accessing Healthy Food “The fruits and vegetables are costly, like they’re really high priced than a bag of chips, but its healthy for us, but some people can’t buy it.” And even more costly if you don’t have the time to cook it, so it goes bad, or you don’t have any cookware to prepare the foods with. The inequalities people face when it comes to something as simple as feeding ourselves.
Farm-to Kitchen Consumer Perspective “I feel like the way people cook their food or the way they get their food has really changed. Like back then they would do that: like plant it, harvest it, and actually cook it there in their own kitchen, homemade. And now people can just walk to anywhere, to Walmart, to McDonalds, and just you know, they lose the fun it used to be. You can just go to Walmart and buy frozen food and it’s not the same, it’s not healthy, it’s just meh.”
Time constraints
Program development
Program delivery: 1 hour for each workshop
6 weeks is a short time to make lasting impact on behavior changes
Population characteristics
Summer YCAP: primarily male, farm labor, paid work
Academic YCAP: primarily female, nutrition & cooking, extracurricular activity- those attending already interested/a big knowledgeable on the topic
Reaching the population that can most benefit from this activity is difficult w/ teenagers going straight to jobs after school or are otherwise uninterested in nutrition
Data collection
Survey portions about nutrition largely measuring awareness and knowledge: one limitation is that there was a slight increase (+.1 in the mean response) in consumption of processed foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. 6 weeks as short window for change when our society is inundated with these foods. But also, if you ate a lean cuisine for dinner every night and figured that was healthy you may not have considered it a frozen meal of “processed food” as you might consider a frozen pizza or bagel bites. It is hard to know what they’re really consuming without an accurate food diary.
Analysis: short time frame for analysis, small population
Structural issues: Southern HS kitchen, transportation
