Healthy eating in a Boys & Girls Club afterschool programme: Barriers, facilitators and opportunities. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brockman, Tabetha A; Sim, Leslie A; Biggs, Bridget K; Bronars, Carrie A; Meiers, Sonja J; Tolleson, Ellen; Ridgeway, Jennifer L; Asiedu, Gladys B; Hanza, Marcelo M; Olson, Molly A; Slowiak, Kathleen A; Weis, Jennifer A; Patten, Christi A; Clark, Matthew M; Millerbernd, Jodi; Sia, Irene G; Wieland, Mark L
• Is Part Of: Health education journal. Volume 79:Number 8(2020)
• Page Start: 914
• Page End: 931
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Afterschool programmes -- childhood obesity prevention -- community-based participatory research -- health disparities -- healthy eating; Health education -- Periodicals; 613.071
• DOI: 10.1177/0017896920936722
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0017-8969

Abstract

Objective: To determine intervention needs and to gather stakeholder input regarding healthy eating promotion for youth members served at a Boys & Girls Club in Rochester, Minnesota. Design: Mixed-methods design informed by community-based participatory research principles. Setting and Method: Young people completed a dietary habits questionnaire and height and weight measure-ments. Focus groups gathered stakeholder – Boys & Girls Club members, staff, caregivers – perspectives on opportunities to improve children's healthy eating through the club setting. Content analysis identified major themes in informants' accounts. Results: Participants identified individual and environmental barriers to healthy eating and opportunities to reduce barriers at this Boys & Girls Club site. Few children met basic nutritional guidelines related to fruit, vegetable, milk and water consumption, and limiting consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, and nearly half were overweight/obese. Stakeholders expressed interest in healthy eating promotion and identified multiple individual-level, interpersonal and environmental opportunities to promote healthier eating through the Boys & Girls Club site. Conclusion: Findings build on a growing literature indicating afterschool programmes are uniquely positioned to address health disparities related to paediatric nutrition and obesity, and can be used to inform the design of a multi-layered intervention to address the complexities influencing dietary quality and obesity among diverse and underserved youth.