Our Year of Healthy Living (Formative Research & Intervention)

Study Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of a 7-month social marketing program - Healthy Me, Healthy We (previously called Our Year of Healthy Living) - in improving preschool children's (3-4 years) diet and physical activity behavior. Healthy Me, Healthy We will use social marketing approaches in the child care center to promote the use of healthy diet and physical activity behaviors by children, as well as their teachers and parents. The program will use visual cues, educational materials, activities, and a song to deliver targeted healthy behavior messages that connect the teacher, child, and parents. Centers will implement the Our Year of Healthy Living program in their classrooms over the course of a school year (October-April). Prior to initiation and after completion of the program, researchers will collect information about diet, physical activity, child body mass index (BMI), and center and home environment information from participants. From the beginning of the program to the end, children enrolled in the program will have 1) a greater increase in physical activity and decrease in sedentary time, 2) improved diet, and 3) smaller increase in body mass index compared to children in centers that do not complete the program. Additionally, from the beginning of the program to the end, homes and centers that participate in the program will have greater improvements in scores on the home and center environment assessments compared to centers and homes that do not participate.

Primary Outcome

Physical activity of 3-4 year old children will be assessed via accelerometry using ActiGraph monitors worn over the right hip for 7 days. Age-appropriate cut-points will be applied to calculate minutes of non-sedentary activity.

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Healthy Me, Healthy We