Youth Engagement and Action for Health!

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Plan and implement the YEAH! Curriculum in urban and rural communities.
• Understand the training barriers and technical assistance needs of youth serving organizations.
• Describe how youth advocacy training impacts racial and ethnic minority youth lower-income participants attitudes and beliefs around physical activity barriers.

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Previous studies on youth physical activity (PA) promotion focused on education, programming, and environmental change, with evidence that many approaches can be effective. However, few effective interventions have been scaled up, and disparities remain in PA and obesity, especially for lower-income racial and ethnic minority youth. Youth advocacy for environment and policy changes holds promise for improvement in obesity prevention, self-efficacy, and barriers to prevention. The purpose of this study is to examine how the YEAH! curriculum impacts middle-school-aged participants in community-based youth serving organizations (YSO). Some 24 YSOs delivered this group-based program designed to help youth advocate for policy/environmental changes that promote PA. Measures include pre- and post-surveys of youth and adult leaders and semi-structured interviews with decision-makers. This research examines how youth-advocacy training impacts racial and ethnic minority youth, lower-income participants attitudes and beliefs, and PA. Results also document training barriers, technical assistance needs, and decision-makers' perceptions of interactions with youth advocates. This study has significant implications for youth PA promotion by demonstrating the ability of YSOs to successfully implement a youth-advocacy training program that can advance physical education changes, promote positive youth attitudes and beliefs, and increase youth PA in these populations.