Evaluation of an Afterschool Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise Program

Chia-Liang Dai; Laura A. Nabors; Keith A. King; Rebecca A. Vidourek; Ching-Chen Chen; Nhung Hoang; Katherine G. Mastro

doi:10.6000/1929-4247.2014.03.04.1

Authors

Chia-Liang Dai College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Laura A. Nabors College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Keith A. King College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Rebecca A. Vidourek College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Ching-Chen Chen College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Nhung Hoang College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA
Katherine G. Mastro College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210002, 410 TC, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4247.2014.03.04.1

Keywords:

Afterschool health education program, low-income children, healthy eating, nutrition education, physical activity.

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of the Children’s Healthy Eating and Exercise Program (CHEE) in an afterschool program of an elementary school.

Methods: Students in a low-income elementary school were recruited to participate in the program. Thirty-three children were in the intervention group. Twenty-four children in the comparison group were recruited from after school clubs in the same elementary school. The CHEE Program consisted of 18 sessions, featuring nutrition (20 min) and physical activity (40 min) lessons. Nutrition lessons were adapted from the Traffic Light Diet. Other lessons included MyPlate, my refrigerator, my lunchbox, and a healthy foods tasting activity. Multiple physical activities were utilized in the program including soccer, dance, relay races, tag, and other fun games. Data were collected at the beginning and end of the program.

Results: Children in both groups reported eating more vegetables at the post-intervention measurement. Children in the intervention group indicated that they learned about healthy eating and new physical activities due to their participation in the program.

Conclusions: Future studies are needed to discover barriers to behavior change as well as apply a more rigorous design to examine the impact of the CHEE Program.

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