Smart Shopping - Food Shopping Intervention Among Adolescents. Grant uri icon

abstract

  • The objective of this project is to develop and test the effectiveness of a Cooperative Extension enhanced intervention titled "Smart Shopping," aimed at improving the shopping practices of adolescents with the ultimate goal of increasing fruit and vegetable intake. To achieve this goal, we will conduct formative research (Year 1) via a community-wide analysis of the school, home and neighborhood food environments. In collaboration with Extension staff and faculty, this formative research will provide insight into the development and enhancement of the ?Smart Shopping? curriculum (adapted from the ?Cook Together, Eat Together? Extension curriculum, Year 2). In Years 3-4, we will implement a randomized controlled intervention trial to examine the effectiveness of an intervention to improve adolescents? purchasing and consumption behaviors. We will implement the trial in Year 3, and evaluate results in Year 4. Our education component will include training of University dietetics interns, graduate, and undergraduate students to implement and evaluate the intervention alongside Extension staff. This project is unique as it: 1) takes into account the role that school wellness policies have in food procurement during the day; 2) incorporates information from multiple levels of the social ecological framework (home, school, and community food environments, as well as the social influence of peers) to create an intervention that addresses influences on adolescents purchasing and consumption behaviors; 3) collaborates with Extension faculty and staff while enhancing an existing program; 4) utilizes and hones the skill sets of students in undergraduate and graduate level nutrition and dietetics programs. This project is integrated by developing and enhancing an already existing Cooperative Extension curriculum which will be made available on eXtension. The curriculum enhancements will be developed with Cooperative Extension agents in Kentucky, designed for broad applicability across multiple states. Additionally, the proposed project?s research component will test the effectiveness of the intervention on the main outcome of fruit and vegetable intake, with an additional outcome of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption, to learn whether increasing fruit and vegetable consumption displaces SSB consumption. Secondary outcomes will include: home food availability; food and beverage selection when with peers; family meal frequency; frequency of shopping at various food venues; and purchasing choices at various food venues. We will also include process measures of reach, fidelity, adoption, and potential for maintenance of the intervention. Lastly, the education arm of this project entails training undergraduate students in nutrition and dietetics from two Universities to deliver the intervention among adolescents in several counties throughout Kentucky and North Carolina.

date/time interval

  • January 2016 - February 2020