evaluation of a theory based childhood overweight prevention curriculum

Abstract

Food Fit, a social cognitive theory based (SCT) nutrition intervention, was implemented to 3rd-5th grade student’s at 5 YMCA after-school programs to impact specific dietary behaviors associated with the prevention of childhood overweight (n = 58). Pre and post tests were administered for each lesson to evaluate changes in behavioral capabilities (BC), self efficacy (SE), and outcome expectancies (OE) for each lesson's key objectives. A child-modified Food Behavior Checklist was administered before and after the program to evaluate dietary behaviors. Results showed significant improvements for SCT psychosocial variables (i.e. outcome expectancies for eating raw vegetables (p