Progress 06/01/09 to 05/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: This project is geared to educate and improve the health of families. Specifically, the AOM Family Program is designed to help families make small sustainable lifestyle changes. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Staff were afforded many professional development opportunities during the phases of this project. Staff gained valuable research experience (while conducting the randomized trial in phase 2 and the data analysis involved in phase 3. The extension agents involved in the project received training on the AOM Family Program which afforded them valuableinformation and toolsrelated to preventing weight gain in adults and excess weight gain in children through small, sustainable, lifestyle changes. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? In phase 3, Family and Consumer Science Extension agents recruited families from Colorado communities to participate in the AOM Family Program. Participating families were given the AOM Family Program Toolkit and pedometers and were asked to follow the program over a six month period. Feedback was collected from the participating families and the Extension agents. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: Enhance the current AOM Family Program to include food and physical activity environment assessments and an online social network. The new AOM Family Program was revised and finalized via collaborations among researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition (CHN) at the University of Colorado Denver, Dr. Jennifer Anderson at Colorado State University, the America On the Move Foundation, Inc., and USDA Extension Agents across Colorado. The current revised program includes a downloadable 6-month step-by-step AOM Family Workbook with new Food and Physical Activity Environment Assessments. The AOM Family Program can also be accessed through the AOM web site (www.americaonthemove.org). The AOM website was redesigned to host social networking services includes typical features offered by social networking websites (e.g. chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, and discussion groups). We conducted three focus groups with family heads-of-households and three youth focus sub-groups to obtain knowledge about the acceptance and usability of the revised program and the website. Focus groups were designed for formative research purposes and utilized to explore an early version of the family program workbook and to help inform the development of the America On the Move website. Participants (11-12 yr olds and parents of 8-12 yr olds) were recruited through Cooperative Extension services in three distinct areas of Colorado: Denver (large, urban), Eagle County (small rural town), and Ft. Morgan (rural town). In general, feedback from the parents indicated that they felt that the program represented a wealth of information/reference tool/place to go for ideas. Additionally, parents liked the AOM family program overall and said that they and their families would use it. Feedback from youth suggested that they liked the overall program, but seemed to focus more on the concrete aspects of it- the workbook, the online activities- pieces that they could see and touch. In addition, youth noted that they liked the fact that they could imagine their family doing it- some noted that some of their siblings/parents may not fully participate, due to their current habits. Objective 2: Conduct a randomized trial to evaluate the impact of the AOM Family Program on the prevention of weight gain in families with at risk of overweight children. We completed a randomized study to examine the effectiveness of the AOM Family Program in preventing excess weight gain in families through small behavior changes. We targeted families with at least one otherwise healthy, at risk of overweight or obese child between the ages of 8-12. A total of 129 families completed the study over the course of the randomized trial. A total of 83 target children (children aged 8-12 with a percentile-BMI-for-age greater than 85th percentile) were randomized to the AOM Family Program, while 85 target children were randomized to the control group. Sixty-eight children in the AOM Family Program completed the 6-month study, while 75 children in the control group completed the study. There were no significant differences in age, ratio of males to females, race, weight, height, BMI, percentile-BMI-for-age, or steps per day between groups at baseline. Preliminary analyses showed that the AOM Family Program significantly increased steps per day in target children compared to the control group at 3 months (p equals 0.014) and at 6 months (p equals less than 0.001). In addition, significantly more children (12.7 percent) reduced percentile-BMI-for-age (reduced classification from obese to overweight, or overweight to normal) in the AOM Family Program group compared to the control group (2.5 percent) (p equals 0.025). Objective 3: Disseminate the AOM Family Program through USDA Extension Services in Colorado and evaluate the usefulness of the program for USDA Extension Agents and participating families Because many of the Agents expressed a need for the AOM Family Program to be available in Spanish, the enhanced Family Program materials were translated and offered for dissemination as needed. AOM provided a half-day training session on the AOM Family Program to all participating Agents interested on May 6, 2011. Agents recruited families and disseminated the materials based on the needs of their individual community. A no cost extension was granted in May 2012 as additional time was needed to retain as many of the enrolled Extension families as possible and to collect, enter and analyze this data. Family and Consumer Science Extension agents recruited families from Colorado communities to participate in the AOM Family Program. Participating families were given the AOM Family Program Toolkit and pedometers and were asked to follow the program over a six month period. Families provided self-reported baseline (month 1) and final (month 6) assessments that included height, weight and seven day step results in addition to pre- and post- questionnaires. Changes in step activity and weight status outcomes using BMI and BMI percentiles for adults and children, respectively, were determined from baseline to final assessment. Additionally, feedback was collected from the participants and the Extension agents and relationships between behaviors and weight status outcomes were assessed. Eleven Family and Consumer Science Extension agents recruited thirty-six families from nine Colorado communities to participate. This included 50 adults and 55 children. At the end of the six month study the adults had achieved a statistically significant reduction in mean body weight and BMI and the children demonstrated no statistically significant changes in mean BMI percentile; consistent with the AOM Family Program objective of weight gain prevention. The majority of the participants (86%) rated the program as either good or better and would recommend it to others. In contrast, only half of the Extension agents rated the program as good and most would not continue to offer it in their communities without changes. In conclusion, with further exploration and adjustments it is feasible that the AOM Family Program could become a valued tool in support of a more healthful lifestyle for families living in Colorado, with Extension serving as the conduit within their respective communities.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/09 to 05/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Objective 1: Enhance the current AOM Family Program to include food and physical activity environment assessments and an online social network. The new AOM Family Program was revised and finalized via collaborations among researchers at the Center for Human Nutrition (CHN) at the University of Colorado Denver, Dr. Jennifer Anderson at Colorado State University, the America On the Move Foundation, Inc., and USDA Extension Agents across Colorado. The current revised program includes a downloadable 6-month step-by-step AOM Family Workbook with new Food and Physical Activity Environment Assessments. The AOM Family Program can also be accessed through the AOM web site (www.americaonthemove.org). The AOM website was redesigned to host social networking services includes typical features offered by social networking websites (e.g. chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, and discussion groups). We conducted three focus groups with family heads-of-households and three youth focus sub-groups to obtain knowledge about the acceptance and usability of the revised program and the website. Focus groups were designed for formative research purposes and utilized to explore an early version of the family program workbook and to help inform the development of the America On the Move website. Participants (11-12 yr olds and parents of 8-12 yr olds) were recruited through Cooperative Extension services in three distinct areas of Colorado: Denver (large, urban), Eagle County (small rural town), and Ft. Morgan (rural town). In general, feedback from the parents indicated that they felt that the program represented a wealth of information/reference tool/place to go for ideas. Additionally, parents liked the AOM family program overall and said that they and their families would use it. Feedback from youth suggested that they liked the overall program, but seemed to focus more on the concrete aspects of it- the workbook, the online activities- pieces that they could see and touch. In addition, youth noted that they liked the fact that they could imagine their family doing it- some noted that some of their siblings/parents may not fully participate, due to their current habits. Objective 2: Conduct a randomized trial to evaluate the impact of the AOM Family Program on the prevention of weight gain in families with at risk of overweight children. We began recruitment for a randomized trial to examine the effectiveness of the AOM Family Program in preventing excess weight gain in families through small behavior changes in July 2009. We targeted families with at least one otherwise healthy, at risk of overweight or obese child between the ages of 8-12. Between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010, 484 families were recruited and 105 were randomized. Ninety families completed the 6-month study by May 31, 2010. PARTICIPANTS: During this reporting period, 8 people were directly involved in this project (personnel and roles listed below). Two undergraduate students and one postdoctoral fellow were afforded the opportunity for research training through this project. James O. Hill, PhD - Primary investigator Jennifer Anderson, PhD - Co-Investigator Rachel Lindstrom, PhD - Study Manager/Post-doctoral Researcher Mercedes Martinez, MPH - Study assistant Amanda Simons, BA - Student research assistant Renee Cisneros - Undergraduate student research assistant Martha Tenney, MPH - Focus group consultant Chrissy Schaefer, BS - Study assistant TARGET AUDIENCES: This project is geared to educate and improve the health of families. Specifically, the AOM Family Program is designed to help families make small sustainable lifestyle changes. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
N/A
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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