Appalachians Together Restoring the Eating Environment: Improving Healthy Diet in Rural Appalachian Kentucky

Appalachians Together Restoring the Eating Environment (Appal-TREE): Advancing Sustainable CBPR Interventions to Improve Healthy Diet in Rural Appalachian Children

Most of the nation's serious chronic health challenges and causes of death, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity, are directly linked to sub-optimal diet. Both poor diets and associated disease are disproportionately common in the Appalachian counties of eastern Kentucky, a region with stark health inequities, including elevated rates of obesity, overweight, and premature mortality. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a multi-component intervention developed through community-based participatory research methods for improving access to healthy foods and enhancing dietary intake in eastern Kentucky. The intervention components evaluated in this study consist of: 1) a school-based campaign to promote water consumption in middle and high schools and 2) a series of group cooking classes for adults.

Inclusion Criteria:

• For school-based component: Student in selected middle or high school classroom in a participating school in intervention or comparison counties (6th to 12th grades)
• For cooking classes: adult aged 18 years or older and residing in intervention county who have at least one dependent child attending middle or high school in the participating school districts

Exclusion Criteria:

• Unable to speak or read English, as all materials will be presented in English