Conference Abstract Compendium Examples from the ... - CityMatCH

2009 CityMatCH Urban MCH Leadership ConferenceUniversity Medical Center and Children’s Mercy Hospital. Adolescents are also offered a HealthyLifestyles screening at the UGPHD or the opportunity to enroll in AYS’s Hip and Fit program.ACCOMPLISHMENTS/RESULTSAs of March 1, 2009, 1,460 adolescents have been screened in nine schools. Of the students whocompleted a BMI screen, 18% were overweight and 31% were in the obese range. Follow-up letters havebeen sent to 100% of adolescents that have been identified as overweight or obese. Six youth havereceived a Healthy Lifestyles assessment. Sixty-nine students have participated in the Hip and Fit pilot.Evaluation Plan: Resource Development Institute is the project’s formal evaluator. Students and vendorscomplete an evaluation of the fairs. Data shows that 99% of youth reported increased awareness andknowledge of nutrition and health; 86% of youth received at least one health screening.BARRIERS• Incorrect and/or insufficient contact information for adolescents made follow-up challenging.• Student and/or parental reluctance to view elevated weight and BMI as problematic.• Because of absenteeism or block/alternate day scheduling, some students missed the screening in eachschool.LESSONS LEARNED• It is important to gain more parental “buy-in” for the project. Plans including adding an orientationmeeting with the youth and parents, as well as family fun nights each quarter at the local YMCA.• Multi-year funding has been requested to expand the project to all four school districts in WyandotteCounty. This would allow organizers to conduct longitudinal tracking of participants to gauge how wellcommitments to healthy eating and increased activity are sustained.• Health departments have a key role to play in community collaborations. A complex, endemic publichealth concern such as adolescent obesity is best addressed by a variety of resources.133