(FIRST) Organ Wise Families: Adaptation & Evaluation of a Health Promotion & Obesity Prevention Program for Young Children Experiencing Homelessness
Grantee: Bassuk Center on Homeless and Vulnerable Children & Youth, Inc., The
Principal Investigator: Ellen L. Bassuk
Project Number: R40MC30763
Project Date: 04/01/2017
Age group(s)
- Early Childhood (3-5 years)
Abstract
Obesity is a major public health problem with lifelong adverse consequences for the health and well-being of children. Low-income family members and those from minority/ethnic groups are more likely to be overweight or obese than their counterparts. Despite prevention and health promotion efforts, "obesity rates have remained one of the biggest threats to the health of our children and our country." 1 (p. 3) Although children experiencing homelessness are at highest risk, few programs are available in poor and underserved communities. For homeless families, displacements, disrupted routines, and fragmented relationships intensify the uncertainty of whether they are safe, where they will sleep, and what they will eat. To promote healthy eating and regular exercise for children who are homeless, the Bassuk Center is collaborating with the Center for Social Innovation and OrganWise Guys to implement and evaluate OrganWise Families (OWF), an innovative intervention to reduce obesity in children aged 3-5 years. Based on the OrganWise Guys characters (e.g., Calci Bone, Hardy Heart, the Kidney Brothers), OWF will teach healthy food choices and strategies for daily exercise in the context of the homeless service system. We will implement this program with 150 families in six shelters in New England. Because children generally establish food patterns and preferences before age 5, this preventive program will reduce obesity in children and thus the risk of obesity in adults. Using a modified switching replication quasi-experimental design (SRD), our study provides the intervention to the entire sample of 3-5 year olds and their parent(s) in participating agencies, while maintaining strong internal validity and assessment of OWF's effect. We will collect and analyze data across the following variables: 1) parent/child nutritional intake; 2) parent/child daily hours of physical activity; 3) parent/child daily hours of screen time; 4) parent/child nutrition knowledge; 5) food buying practices (parents); 6) food preparation and feeding practices (parents); 7) parent/child body mass index; and 8) shelter practices and policies. Our project aligns closely with the MCH Bureau's Strategic Research Issue #IV: Promoting the healthy development of MCH populations.As MCH suggests, we aim to study the effectiveness of health promotion and prevention strategies to promote healthy weight and prevent obesity in children. This project also aligns closely with performance and population domain #8, Physical Activity and Child Health. With our attention to the disproportionate number of children from minority groups in the homelessn population, the study advances Strategic Research Issue #II by reducing health disparities for people of color, as well as immigrant families and other families underserved by mainstream health and human services. OWF has the potential to change the context of shelter environments by empowering families to make healthy choices about nutrition and exercise. Since the target population is young children and their parent(s) who are extremely poor and disproportionately of color, OWF will reduce health disparities, lower obesity rates, and improve long-term health outcomes. The findings will provide an evidence base for an intervention that has the potential to prevent eating patterns leading to obesity, and change policies in the homelessness system. Populations: African American; Hispanic/Latino; Immigrant; Low-Income EHB Application Number: 143423<< Previous Next >>