Food, Fun, & Fitness Internet Program for Girls: Outcome Evaluation

Using Technology to Prevent Obesity Among African American Girls

The purpose of this project is to reduce health disparities in obesity risk among 8-10 year old African American girls using a culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate internet-based program with no face-to-face interaction. This study will conduct an outcome evaluation to test short and longer term effects on obesity risk.

This research will conduct an outcome evaluation on a promising web based obesity prevention program for 8-10 year old African American girls. A pilot study with 80 girls established its feasibility: recruitment goals were met; attrition rates were < 10%; logon rates to the online program were 74.5%; and statistically significant increases in fruit and vegetable consumption and time spent being physically active were observed. The outcome evaluation will recruit 400 child-parent pairs to examine short and longer term effects of the program on obesity risk. It will also conduct mediation analyses to examine pathways of effect. At the end of the study, the web based program will be hosted on the CNRC web site. Although the use of the internet as a method for changing health behavior is not new, the use of an internet program alone, with no face to face interaction, is novel. This is one of the first programs to attempt this, particularly in an at-risk population.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 8-10 years old
• healthy
• African American
• parent willing to participate in data collection
• internet access
• personal email address

Exclusion Criteria:

• mental, physical, or medical conditions that limit fruit-vegetable consumption, physical activity, or ability to fully participate in the program and/or complete baseline and post assessment data collection
• taking medications that influence dietary behaviors, appetite, and/or physical activity